


Every Good Plan…

by laniew1



Category: Britney Spears (Musician), NSYNC
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-08-09
Updated: 2003-11-21
Packaged: 2017-10-27 10:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 40,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/294921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laniew1/pseuds/laniew1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They talked for two hours, at 4 am they had the beginning of a plan. At seven they put it into action.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Has A Beginning

The night they came up with the plan was very hazy. She knew they’d talked about it, knew that each one of them’d had reservations about it. While she was sure at the time they knew what was happening after the fact she just wasn’t anymore. They just knew they had a plan.

One that she’d never be quite sure who came up with. It could have been hers, she knew she’d been _just_ drunk enough that it sounded like something she’d come up with.

It could have been his, she had vague recollections of him being sad and frustrated and probably just enough with it to think the crazy thing would work.

Of course in the end it didn’t really matter who came up with. The problem was they both _agreed_ to it.

But that was getting _way_ ahead and there was a whole story to lead up to it.

  


******************************************************************************

  
It had been some random party, for something that she wasn’t still quite sure of till this day. She’d been dancing, hands in the air (because it showed off just a sliver of her stomach and she was damn proud of her body), eyes closed. When he’d slid up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist she’d thought nothing of it.

It was a party, with dancing… the very same exact thing (someone sliding in behind her) had already happened four times and she’d just kept dancing, eventually whoever it was moved away to return to their own group that didn’t happen this time.

She idly wondered if she should move away, and decided that it was just dancing so she stayed.

When he was sure that she wasn’t going to leave his hands moved to her hips and they’d kept dancing. The heavy pounding of the music keeping them company as their hips and bodies ground together. If they’d been naked and not in public this might have been considered sex.

The familiarity of his movements bugged her, and after a moment she shrugged it off as inconsequential and left it at that.

When the fast beat turned into a slow one she turned to face him and almost jumped out of her skin. She would have quite literally jumped away from him if he hadn’t had a tight grasp on her hips, and that smile on his face was freaking her right out. The last time JC had smiled at her he’d also been telling her she was a piece of shit… only not in so many words.

A quick glance to her left then her right as he was pulling her into the lines of his body showed her that yes, they were the focus of attention now.

“You do know Justin’s going to be pissed, right?” she muttered in his ear, she knew her voice was louder than normal, but she hoped that it was soft enough that not everybody was hearing her.

“Justin’s got enough on his plate right now, he certainly doesn’t need to be worrying about who _I’m_ dancing with,” and if there was a hint of bitterness there Britney didn’t question it. She just moved closer without his coaxing and wrapped her arms around his waist.

She’d known for almost as long as she and Justin had been together that there was some kind of chemistry between JC and Justin. That if she hadn’t been there that JC would have been. That even with her being there some things Justin just went to JC for.

“We’re going to be the talk of the town tomorrow,” she stated, more to herself than to him although she was gratified that he didn’t pull away.

“Then people need to find more interesting things to talk about… we’re just dancing, now if we left together…”

Britney snorted, JC laughed and then an hour later they both ignored the various members of their entourage and their audience and left together.

  


******************************************************************************

  
The plan came between little bottles of whiskey and vodka. They’d both been sprawled on the couch in JC’s suite giggling as they got drunker and drunker.

She’d probably always blame the plan on the alcohol… because she honestly believed that without it neither she nor JC would have been as friendly or civil to each other.

Of course it was hard not to be friendly when someone was rubbing your feet. Whoever was in the rooms on either side of them probably thought they were having sex every time he hit a particularly sensitive area and she groaned.

“See you shouldn’t be wearing heels so much.”

“I like the way they make my ass look,” Britney said almost absently, she swirled the tiny bit of vodka left in her glass around before raising it to her lips. She almost choked on it.

“Well yeah… but they’re ruining your arches.”

“Have you been staring at my ass Jace?”

“Joey points at the finer aspects of everyone’s ass to anyone who’ll listen,” JC smirked, winking at her. “Even yours.”

Britney buried her grin in her glass, emptying it and then setting it aside.

“So what are you going to tell Justin?”

“’bout what,” JC patted her feet once and then rested his hands on top of her legs.

Britney rolled her eyes, “’bout the dancing and the drinking and the you not embarrassing me in front of everyone by abandoning me on a crowded dance floor,” she waved her hands in the air.

“Why do you think J’s gonna care?” JC rested his head on the back of the couch, his eyes closing.

“Jace this is _me_ not some girl you picked up in that club… you and Justin… you guys have something…” and if she was less drunk she knew that she could put it into words… although she probably wouldn’t be saying anything if she was sober.

“We don’t have anything,” JC said tiredly and he sounded so sober in that moment that Britney wondered if she’d actually been drinking alone and he’d just been plying her with the booze. JC had about as low a tolerance as an infant and should have been incoherent at this point.

“Please,” Britney snorted. “I’ve seen you guys, you know with the flirting and the eyes and the jealousy…”

“Justin’s straight,” and she knew that he’d had this conversation with someone before. Probably one of the guys, most definitely not the ex-girlfriend of the guy he was crazy about.

“Justin’s in denial,” she corrected.

“And dating Cameron now.”

“Diaz?” her brow wrinkled, because she knew she was out of touch but she didn’t think she was _that_ out of touch.

“The one and only.” His sigh was tired.

“Then you need to find someone to,” she decided.

“How is _that_ going to help?”

“Jealousy is a wonderful thing,” she waved her hand imperiously as she thought. There had to be one or two people within their circle that didn’t know that JC was gay and in love with Justin, that could be trusted to do this. If she was sober she could probably have come up with someone.

“Jealousy?”

“Why do you think our relationship started to fall apart? He was freakin’ out about you and Bobbi…” And then she’d fucked Wade and that had been a huge mistake because she’d loved Justin and he’d dropped her like she was diseased, which knowing Wade could have been a possibility and he still hadn’t ended up falling into JC’s arms.

Name, name. She’d give up all the alcohol in the world for a name. “How ‘bout Tara, Justin certainly didn’t like her.”

“She’s dating Trace… or she was dating Trace. I’m not sure who she’s dating now, she might have sworn off men.”

“You could help me here,” Britney hit his arm lightly.

“This is a stupid idea Brit.”

“How ‘bout me?”

“What about you?” JC’s eyes narrowed.

“You could date me… you know Justin would swoop into rescue you from big bad Britney,” she smirked even as she inwardly winced.

She hated that _that_ was the way Justin saw her now. Someone that others had to be protected from.

“Is this some publicity ply?” he scowled. “When’s your new album come out again?”

“Not soon enough… and this’ll work.”

“Justin’s straight… a fact which he loudly proclaims at any given moment with as many women as he can manage. Besides the fact that he has never given any indication that he thinks of me as _anything_ but a friend,” JC ran a hand through his hair. “And sometimes we’re not even that anymore,” was said softly and under his breath, she was sure she wasn’t supposed to hear it at least.

“You’re just not looking, ask any of the guys and they’ll tell you.”

“This is so not going to work.”

“Have faith,” she stretched slightly, moving her legs into a more comfortable position. “At the very least you’ll have a great story to share next time you guys are all together.”

“You’re still in love with him,” JC said softly, his eyes met hers and they were filled with sadness.

“I’ll always be in love with him,” she smiled wanly.

“Then why?”

“Because he won’t have anything to do with me… and because I think you can make him happy. I wouldn’t do this otherwise.”

They talked for two hours, at 4 am they had the beginning of a plan. At seven they put it into action.

******************************************************************************


	2. Has It's Opposition

The sound of a cellphone bleating woke her out of a sound sleep. For about a half a second she thought she was still dreaming… because why the _hell_ would someone set their cell to _bleat_ of all things and then suddenly it seemed just like that dream with the car that talked like that freaky guy from the Police Academy movies.

When the bleating didn’t stop she cracked open an eye that felt like sandpaper was being scoured over it and swallowed several times.

And yes that _was_ someone’s phone bleating, she wasn’t sleeping and just what the _hell_ had she been drinking? Lighter fluid?

When it stopped suddenly she let her head collapse onto the warm body that she was laying on. Before sitting up suddenly, pressing a hand to her temple as her vision swam and her stomach heaved.

JC slept soundly under her, the only indication that he had been disturbed by her movements was a slight nose twitch and soft snore before he was silent once more.

Justin had once told her in one of their _many_ phone conversations (because for the first six months they’d dated that was the only time they’d even gotten to talk) that JC slept like the dead… literally.

Supposedly they’d once held a mirror under his nose once to make sure he was still breathing because no one wanted to tell Lou that they had to replace him, not after the fiasco that had erupted when they’d had to replace Jason.

Even though that had turned out fairly well in the long run. She hadn’t believed him when he’d told her that JC didn’t make a noise or move once he fell asleep.

Because _everyone_ did _something_ while asleep. She’d had a dancer that scratched his genitals for hours, another one that mumbled about chickens and condoms (which she’d never questioned even though she was dying to know.)

But she’d never seen JC sleep up close and personal and she knew that if she hadn’t known about it before hand that she would have thought him dead. And wouldn’t have _that_ gone over well. Justin might be in denial but if JC had died while in her company she had no doubt that hell would have rained down on her… most if it probably from Justin’s hands with the other three joining in for old times sake.

The phone started bleating again, ringing eight times then stopping, then starting again. The third time, it seemed someone _really_ wanted to get in touch with JC.

She poked at his shoulder with one hand, holding the other against her head in a desperate attempt to keep her brain from falling out her ears while she wasn’t paying attention.

“Jace…” no response, she frowned and tried again raising her voice as loud as her ears could take it. “JC.”

JC forced one bleary eye open, managed an impressive glare before it shut again.

“Jace your phones ringing…”

“’nore it,” he muttered before attempting to roll onto his side under her. She balanced herself with the hand that had been poking him and practiced her surfing.

She almost fell off the couch because it seemed a distinct possibility that she was still drunk.

“It’s _bleating_ ,” she explained, there was no sign from under her that JC was even still listening. She made a mental note to ask JC much, _much_ later why his phone was set on that particular ring.

With a wince she leaned forward and plucked JC’s cellphone off the small coffee table and opened it.

“Hello?” her voice was raspy with not enough sleep, to much alcohol and to much talking. There was silence on the other end and she wondered if this was a crank. She so wasn’t in the mood for a crank. “Hello?!” she forced her voice to be a bit sterner and a bit more angry; her head disapproved and throbbed accordingly.

“Brit?” the voice on the other end was loud with disbelief.

“Chris,” she sighed poking at JC’s shoulder. He didn’t have to be awake for their plan to start but she wanted to share the pain of Chris’ voice. Her head felt like it was going to explode.

“What the hell?! I _know_ I took you off speed dial… I don’t think you were even _on_ speed dial 2 ever anyway…”

“I probably wasn’t,” she muttered. “This is JC’s phone did you need him for something?”

The silence again and that caused her to smile even though her body protested. Because not many things left Chris Kirkpatrick speechless… except it seemed his best friends ex having his other best friends’ cell phone at 7 am in the morning.

“Why the hell do you have C’s phone?!” his voice was shrill and loud and Britney yanked the phone away from her ear. JC was finally awake and frowning at the noise, rubbing at his eyes he looked about five.

 _Chris_? he mouthed, stretching and she nodded.

 _Not happy_ , she mouthed back and he grinned.

On the phone Chris was still screeching.

“I thought you capable of a lot of things but stealing JC’s phone…” he paused to draw in a long breath.

“I didn’t steal his phone, JC’s here… you want to talk to him?” she asked brightly, yanking the phone away again as he once more started yelling.

JC rubbed at his head, Britney let hers collapse against the back of the sofa still laying half on him. Every so often she would half listen to the yelling, just to make sure Chris was still there… although she didn’t think he was even yelling anything in particular any more, he sounded pretty incoherent and was basically just making noises.

And if _Chris_ was this mad they might have to temporarily go into hiding or hire bodyguards when Justin found out.

The sound of silence would have boded well if she didn’t know that Chris was probably on his way to the hotel. She wondered how long it would take him to fly in.

“He hung up.”

“He’s probably in the elevator,” JC sighed. “We should probably get up.”

“Yeah,” Britney closed the phone, tossing it aside. Neither moved. “He’s here, in the hotel?” she asked just to clarify, because unless Chris had learned teleportation as a new skill it should have taken him hours.

“Flew in yesterday, he was tired so I went out alone.”

She nodded and knew that there was no way that JC was ever going to be allowed to go out alone again. Not if he was picking up friends ex-girlfriends when he did.

“How far are you willing to take this?” she asked quietly. “We never really talked about that.”

“Well I guess until you get bored playing my girlfriend… if you talked to Bobbi… which you don’t… well she’d probably tell you that playing that particular role isn’t very much fun.”

“I think I can handle it,” she smirked. “So we’re doing this until Justin comes to his senses?”

“Or until he kills us both.”

“Gah…I thought you were an optimist… where’s all this pessimism coming from? I’m telling you the minute Chris determines that this is real and not an act that Justin is going to be the first person he tells. I give this budding relationship a week before Justin swoops in to end it and sweep you off your feet.”

“Sweep me off my feet?” JC arched a brow in query.

“Yeah he’s good at that. He’s got a very seldom untapped romantic side.”

“A week huh?”

“Well he’s got shows… I foresee Chris, Lance and Joey spending a lot of time with us in the next week. Because they’re lonely… or some shit like that.”

“You think you know Justin that well?”

“Justin has got a jealous streak a mile wide… he will _not_ trust me alone with you for any longer than it takes for him to get here.”

“He could be worried about you,” JC shrugged a wry grin on his face as he tugged on her hair. The thought of someone, even Justin being jealous over him… was apparently boggling his mind. Who knew JC’s self-esteem when it came to his relationships was that low.

“Justin hasn’t been worried about me since Wade spilled the beans… He was probably damn homicidal.”

“Yeah…” he winced. “Pretty close, we kept him locked in his room for a while.”

The sound of a fist slamming repeatedly against the door caused Britney to jump, although JC didn’t move a muscle.

“Should I…” she motioned to the door.

“He’s got the master, he’ll let himself in.”

“Then why’s he knocking?”

“To warn us that he’s coming in so as not to catch any nudity. He’s got some freakish sensibilities.”

“Right,” the word had just left her mouth when the door slammed open.

“What the fuck?!!” Chris’ face was bright red and Britney swallowed back her smile and the nausea which had decided that now was a fine time to recur.

“Chris stop yelling,” JC ordered softly, a glance over showed her that his eyes had closed once more. Maybe he was going to feign sleep? Lucky bastard. She knew he could sleep through pretty much anything… although Chris’ voice might be pushing it.

“I just… you know… Justin is going to fucking _kill_ you,” he finally managed to stutter out his eyes wide as he turned the corner and was able to take in the two of them settled together on the couch.

Although she knew that JC would assume the last comment was directed at him, Britney was positive that it was directed at her; especially since Chris’ glare couldn’t get more lethal and was pointed directly at her… she was damn lucky she wasn’t a pile of ash on JC’s chest.

“Do you want to sit down Chris?” Britney smiled gently at him, just because it wasn’t her room didn’t mean that she couldn’t be a gracious hostess even if their guest wanted to kill her. She stroked JC’s hand in what she hoped was a soothing manner. He was trembling slightly, maybe from nerves. Maybe from the remains of alcohol in his system.

“Why would Justin care Chris?” JC’s eyes opened slowly and focused on the oldest member of *NSYNC. “He and Britney broke up, remember?”

“Yeah but…” Chris fumbled, eyes wide as he all but fell into the lone arm chair. Britney leaned her head over JC, letting her hair shield her as she smiled down at him.

She was filled with pride even though he hadn’t even done anything yet. Pride because it was dawning on her that JC was a sneaky son-of-a-bitch; Justin had never mentioned that.

It was going to be so much fun ‘dating’ him while it lasted.

Since JC hadn’t known about Justin’s ‘straight’ boy crush until she’d told him about it, Chris had most likely been the one he’d confided in, he’d probably had to swear a pinky swear on top of whatever family grave was available to keep it a secret from JC. And now Chris couldn’t say anything, couldn’t tell JC exactly why Justin was going to be so angry at anyone without breaking the promise he’d made Justin.

And she knew from past experience that Chris would rather peel of his own skin than do something that would go against a promise made to Justin.

“Why don’t you go take a shower sweetie,” JC offered, stroking Britney’s face gently. He winked at her, a move that Chris couldn’t see and she grinned. Touching their lips together softly, her grin widened when she heard the barely concealed snarl behind them.

Chris was obviously channeling Justin.

She pushed herself to her feet, swaying slightly with dizziness before she made her way to the bathroom.

She couldn’t shower of course; her bags were in her room. But if she turned on the shower and waited until Chris left she could at least eavesdrop.

  


******************************************************************************

  
She had to wonder if Chris had been pacing, waiting for her to start the water before starting in on his diatribe again.

“What the fuck C?” his voice was a loud hiss and Britney hoped that JC knew she was trying to listen and would moderate his speech accordingly, because JC was normally soft-spoken and she wanted to hear _everything_.

“Jesus Chris do I need to get you a valium?” JC’s voice was filled with amusement. “It’s not a big deal.” From where she had her ear practically pressed against the door Chris sounded like he was hyperventilating. He was probably wondering if this was the sort of thing that Justin would kill the messenger for.

She should warn him that yes it was. But if Chris didn’t tell Justin, than that meant either she or JC would have to and she wasn’t really up to dealing with Justin, she didn’t think JC was either… course if they were going to be cowards they could just go to some premiere together.

There’d always be the paparazzi or one of those entertainment news shows crews. E had been following her for weeks as they waited for her album to drop.

A picture was worth a thousand words after all. She ran through her list of events, wondered if there was any that she and JC had in common. It would be much easier to schedule their first ‘date’ to be an event they already both had to go to.

“You’re gay,” Chris stated as if he thought JC had forgotten it in the ten hours since he’d seen him last. “How the hell can you be dating Britney Spears? Because in case you haven’t noticed C she doesn’t have a dick… and I don’t think she plans on getting one.”

“No I hadn’t noticed,” Britney grinned, JC had the sarcasm thing _down_. She could actually _hear_ his eyes rolling.

She bounced slightly, taking a deep breath at the nausea and decided that since they were now ‘dating’ she could go through JC’s toiletry bag looking for aspirin. Condoms, lube… she frowned, had he been planning on getting lucky or was he just always that prepared?

Aspirin, she sighed in relief. Closing the bag up she returned it to where she’d found it.

“This is going to be such a mess.”

“Chris relax… Justin isn’t going to care. He’s dating Cameron now. Both he and Britney are moving on… Justin’s been moving on for some time actually so…”

“That’s not the point…”

“Chris… look…” JC sighed heavily. “I’m tired; Brit and I were up late last night…”

“Yeah I can see that… must have been one hell of a party. You know Jace I would have thought if you’d learned _anything_ from Joey it would be that you don’t need to date every girl that you get drunk with… or every girl that you fuck for that matter.”

“Now you’re being crude.”

“Do _not_ make me call the others and force them to come here so we can have an intervention. Because you know I will. I’m going to my room to get my bag because there is no way in hell I’m leaving you alone with her for any longer than I have to. The trouble you get yourself into when you don’t have one of us there to supervise. Christ… when I get back I want you to be back to your happy, gay self and I’ll hear no more about you dating Britney. ‘kay?”

“Sure Chris,” JC’s voice was smiling although Britney could hear the underlying placating tone, which she knew Chris could hear as well. She could hear Chris muttering under his breath as he left, probably complaining about being too old for this shit. When the door closed behind him she flung the bathroom door open leaping at him, grimacing as her head protested the movements.

“You were great,” she laughed, hugging him tightly.

JC looked slightly disbelieving as he stared at the door. “I lied to him… I lied to him and he _believed_ me,” he said wondrously.

“You were fantastic,” she assured him.

“But… but I can’t lie…” he waved his hands as she moved back slightly. She’d been hit twice before she realized that when talking to JC you had to maintain at least an arms length distance between parties unless you wanted to walk away with bruises or a head injury. “They always know when I’m lying, I turn red and babble and… well I can’t lie.”

“You weren’t lying,” she grinned. “As of four this morning we _are_ dating.”

  



	3. Has A First Date

As first dates went, theirs was pretty uneventful considering.

It happened two days after the start of The Plan and had only been delayed that long because although they had two events in their schedules in common JC had insisted that he needed to take some of that time to tell his parents about the plan.

He didn’t want his father to think that just because he and Britney were ‘dating’ that grandchildren were imminent.

He’d told her that they’d been open and if not totally supportive, then mostly supportive when he came out. His mother only tried to set him up with old high school girlfriends once a year now.

The fact that he was currently ‘dating’ Britney would come as something of a shock.

So four people knew, the two of them and JC’s parents, she didn’t dare tell her mother (even though JC insisted that it was okay) because from past experience she was sure that her mother couldn’t keep a secret and the truth would end up on the cover of People.

A simple Indy movie premiere, a film she only even knew about because a friend of a friend was starring in it, happened to be their official coming out. It had worked out great for both parties.

She’d let JC dress himself because she didn’t want to be accused by either Chris, acting on Justin’s behalf, or the public (i.e. *NSYNC’s rabid fans) of trying to change him. Once he had figured out what he was wearing she had coordinated her wardrobe for the night with it.

He’d been amazingly low key, she’d been truly surprised.

Chris had scowled at her for an hour after they had all met up. Although part of that might have been the fact that she and JC had tried to ditch him. They had bodyguards why did they need Chris too.

Chris _had_ of course tagged along; she had honestly expected nothing less. Britney was sure that he thought if he left them alone for more than 30 seconds they’d wind up married. If they were in Vegas that might have been the case. Nothing made someone more desirable than being unavailable. Justin would have swooped in and had the marriage annulled in less than an hour, Lance could be very helpful that way she figured.

She actually felt kind of bad for Chris. Caught in the middle, watching JC for Justin, then getting screamed at by Justin for not watching close enough. If she’d been Chris she would have walked away and told Justin to wake the hell up.

Poor Chris had already had the distinct misfortune of being the barer of the bad news of JC’s new relationship; he’d had to listen to Justin scream for 30 minutes straight about it. Justin had refused to be placated and the only way Chris had got him to even hang up and go perform was to promise that JC and Britney would never be alone for a single moment.

Britney knew all this because a) Justin’s voice when he was screaming carried a great distance and b) she’d been eavesdropping.

When they’d arrived at the premiere she’d drawn a deep breath, had squeezed JC’s hands and then the door had opened.

They’d been practically blinded by the flashbulbs the moment they stepped out of the limo, JC exiting first, his hand secure around hers as he assisted her out. Smiling, waving, ignoring the gasps from the crowd as they realized who had arrived together, attempting but not altogether succeeding in ignoring the press… the paparazzi were practically _salivating_ at the sight of them together.

They’d walked the sky blue carpet (Britney wondered if they’d ever go back to red carpets… maybe if she ever made another movie she’d put in an early vote for the red, they were so much classier) arm in arm, Chris moseying along behind them.

To anyone’s eyes they’d looked very much like the picture perfect happy couple (all those months of pretending with Bobbi had certainly honed JC’s skills), with a chaperone. They smiled at the fans lined up on both sides, stopped to chat with the various entertainment crews who were shuffling for position practically assaulting each other in order to be the first to get an interview with the new couple.

She’d guaranteed JC in one of their miniscule private moments (they’d had two when Chris had been out of earshot or distracted) that from the way their pictures were being snapped and the amount of interviews they’d been cornered for (more than the movies stars), that they had at least one cover, a headline and a blip on either E!News or Entertainment Tonight.

She’d placed her bets on E!News, but at the time she hadn’t been sure if Entertainment Tonight would have a slow night or not.

Chris had managed to slide his way into the first two of the seventeen pictures that had been taken before the photographers figured out that they had to be pretty damn quick with the shutter finger if they didn’t want an unwanted third party in their ‘exclusive photos’ of JC and Britney’s first night out on the town together as a couple.

The news crews were better; they just sort of shoved him out of the way or kept the camera tight on JC and Britney.

Chris had probably been having nightmares, fearing for his life ever since then of Justin’s reaction to those same pictures. Probably envisioning Justin killing him slowly for allowing the other fifteen.

The one that had been printed on the cover of both People and US Weekly had been one of their ‘private moments’.

Chris had been distracted by the arrival of a braless Kirsten Dunst on the arm of Tobey Maguire and JC had taken the moment to whisper something inane in her ear.

That was the shot on the covers of the magazines she was staring at. JC ducking down to whisper in her ear, her face angled up towards him. Both of them smiling, very obviously happy.

The new Pop Prince and Pop Princess, JC had almost fallen over himself laughing at that. The magazines had short memory spans. She’d missed the magazine but supposedly just over a month prior Justin had been the Pop Prince and JC had barely been mentioned in the article.

Britney had pointed out that the article for Justin and Cameron had not even included pictures of the couple together… they at least had fifteen shots of the two of them together from that night, they’d also included a couple from when they’d been on the MMC which disturbed her slightly because they _had_ been just friends then and a couple of group ones that included her with *NSYNC.

She wondered if they’d held the cover specifically for them, wondered how they’d managed to put the stories together so quickly. Did they have some stockpile of stories that they used or had someone from their management sides leaked the information on them?

It was unsurprising that though they’d included a picture of her with Justin (chronicling past relationships), that the two that had Chris hanging between them had not been included in the article.

She could _swear_ she almost heard Justin screaming from his hotel room.

  


******************************************************************************

  
Justin threw the magazine on the floor; Trace had gotten him the People because the article was longer and had more pictures. He wondered if the US Weekly with the shorter article and less pictures had more in the way of truth.

It was lies, all lies! JC was gay, he’d told Justin this when he was fourteen… and had been in love with him since he was seventeen, which he hadn’t told Justin but that’s what Joey had assured him.

He stomped on the cover repeatedly, making sure to hit Britney’s face and not JC’s with his sneakered feet. It wasn’t Jace’s fault after all that he’d been drawn into Brit’s web

JC was a trusting soul and obviously Britney had given him some sob story and he’d decided to go along with it without sharing the story with anyone so now no one knew what was going on.

It _wasn’t_ JC’s fault. It was his, between him and Joey they _tried_ to make sure JC kept out of trouble, they didn’t always succeed but they _always_ tried. When he wandered around alone he tended to attract trouble like bees to honey.

But everyone had been busy, even JC had been busy recording so they’d thought he’d be safe locked up in his studio. Chris had been the first to realize that JC was out of the studio and wandering around town alone when they’d filmed their congratulations speech for Lance.

Chris and Justin had talked, Justin had the tour, Joey had family commitments, also known as ‘the wedding that Kelly would kill them all if they interfered with’, Lance had ‘something’ that he couldn’t talk about, Chris had pretty much nothing so he’d cleared what was left on his schedule and flown to JC’s next known stop.

Then all hell had broken loose.

Justin could remember the phone call vividly. He’d not been at his best. He’d been tired and cranky, wondering if this was all worth it and Chris had woken him up.

He knew he’d yelled, knew he’d insulted Chris on pretty much every level known to man, as well as some biological ones. He owed him about a hundred apologies and about fifty cases of beer.

Cameron hadn’t spoken to him for two hours because she was afraid of him going off on her. Of course a lot of that had been because once Justin had told her and Christina what had happened they had both started laughing… hysterically.

He hadn’t thought it very funny.

He _still_ didn’t think it was very funny.

JC was being used by Britney in some nefarious scheme that Justin hadn’t been able to put a finger on yet but once he did he’d make sure she paid dearly. Nobody messed with what was his. And JC was his… he just didn’t know it yet.

He’d made his decisions, had been getting ready to act on them once the North American tour was over, Cameron had been boosting his confidence while she spent girly time with Christina. Something about studying the life of a popstar life for her next movie.

To him it just looked like they spent a lot of time getting manicures and making fun of him.

He’d been gearing up for telling JC the truth, practicing it in front of the mirror (he’d practiced in front of Trace, Cameron and Christina but they kept stopping him and making stupid comments) so he didn’t screw it up when he finally had JC right in front of him to say it to. Then it seemed hell had frozen over and Britney had cut him off at the pass. Stealing JC right out from under him.

Cameron and Christina had been quite amused. They’d both told him not to wait.

Life was _not_ fair. He hadn’t cheated on his girlfriend and then been rewarded by getting the man of _her_ dreams.

“You done killing the magazine?” Christina was smirking in the doorway, Cameron hovering behind her. They were both too amused by the whole thing. He needed to find different friends.

The fact that Britney had started dating JC just as Justin had decided to be honest with everyone had been a constant source of amusement for the last five days. He was very tired of being the butt of their jokes and sly innuendoes.

Christina had never hesitated to tell him that as much as she wanted Cameron on the tour that it was a bad idea. That since Cameron wasn’t telling anyone about her next role that everyone was going to get the _wrong_ idea about her being there. He had managed to restrain himself from pointing out that 75% of the population already thought they were dating so how much more of a wrong idea could they get.

“I don’t think he’s even close yet,” Cameron that time. Grinning widely. “You can still see Britney’s face.”

“Probably would have been better off going outside and walking through some mud puddles or dog shit, it would have disfigured her quicker,” Christina again. Justin scowled.

“There’s fifteen pictures of JC and Britney together in there. They did a whole photo spread,” Trace pointed out ever-so-helpfully from the couch. His voice sounded amused, Justin’s scowl deepened.

“Fifteen huh?” Christina walked into the room, shoving Justin out of the way so she could pick the magazine up. Flipping easily to the Cover Story, complete with pictures. “They have more than that… there’s a handful of ones from MMC and a couple from when you were dating her.”

Justin snarled, Christina winked before she busied herself scanning the article. Probably looking for a mention of herself. There was one, a note that Britney’s ex was currently on tour with her music rival.

“Those don’t count,” Trace said. “They weren’t dating then.”

“Who’s to say,” Cameron shrugged. Nudging Christina over she flopped down beside her, scanning the article over her shoulder. “They look really cute together.”

“They do _not_ look good together,” Justin snarled, ignoring the looks that his three _friends_ shared. “She’s a manipulative bitch and she’s using him for…for something.”

“Riiiight,” Christina relaxed back on the couch, shifting slightly so she could lay her legs over Trace’s. “For what purpose is she using him exactly?”

“I don’t know,” Justin was frustrated. “He hasn’t told us yet.”

“You said Chris talked to him,” Trace reminded him.

“So…”

“Well JC can’t lie; it’s a known fact… why does Chris think they’re dating if they’re not dating?”

“Maybe JC’s just embracing his newfound bisexuality,” Christina winked at him.

“’tina…”

“He did date girls for years before he came out, he must have found something interesting about them.”

“Trace you’re not helping,” Justin muttered. At times like this he wished he had hair, just so he could pull it out.

“Didn’t know I was supposed to be,” Trace plucked the magazine out of Christina’s hands, dropping the one he’d been looking at in her lap as an exchange. He ignored Justin’s growl. “I don’t know why this is such a big deal…”

“Trace give him a break,” Cameron grinned. “I mean it’s not every day that your ex-girlfriend swoops in and steals your guy.”

“He could take Britney.”

“You guys are just a barrel of laughs.”

“And you call yourself a genius,” Christina rolled her eyes. “If you’re so worried about JC why don’t _you_ call and talk to him instead of leaving it up to Chris to determine what’s true and what’s not. I mean I know you trust him but come on.”

“He’s probably afraid that Brit’s going to answer,” Cameron grinned.

“I think he’s more afraid that JC’s going to say ‘yes, I’m currently dating Britney’…”

Justin sighed, rubbing his head. Wondering where he’d hidden his razor, his hair needed a trim. He ignored his friends’ laughter and comments. He held solace in the fact that Chris hadn’t been real amused by the fact that JC and Britney were dating. In fact he’d been hyperventilating when he called. Justin had to make him get a paper bag to breathe into before Chris could even tell him what was going on.

When he got home he really needed to look into getting new friends… ones that would support him in his misery… not make fun of him.

  


******************************************************************************


	4. Has An Intervention Staged by A Boyband

They’d been expecting him for two days; JC had won his first bet ever because of the seemingly unexplainable delay at Justin’s arrival. Britney had scowled as she handed over the thousand bucks.

They’d put the money and the time to good use.

The money had bought a pair of leather pants, which Britney insisted did wonderful things for his ass. Two shirts, although she’d refused to let him buy the pink ones in her presence (he’d gone back later on his own to get them) and a pair of kickass black leather boots which had Britney meowing at him and muttering something about kittens and petting.

He wondered where his reputation as a fluffy kitten had come from.

The additional two days gave them time to cement their ‘relationship’ within both the watchful publics’ eye and the three members of *NSYNC who seemed to have moved in overnight.

It took nine days total for Justin to arrive, nine days since JC and Britney had made their plans and told a few little white lies.

Actually Britney had told most of the lies, because even though they were ‘dating’ JC was a really bad liar when asked a direct question. Fortunately his friends were so caught up in the fact that he was seemingly with Britney voluntarily that any time it dawned on them that no one had point blank _asked_ him if he was dating Britney he could use misdirection and hug her or touch her and they’d all growl. Britney said they were channeling their inner Justin’s and then they’d laugh, because she was right.

And for once it was kind of fun to be the one in on the prank and not the butt of the prank.

It was kind of strange that the other three were so obviously misled but JC cut them some slack, they were a little distracted by Britney’s continued presence at his side. Somehow though he didn’t think Justin would be that easily misled.

He hoped.

So for the moment, (just until Justin came to his senses Britney insisted) JC was Britney’s boyfriend. JC hadn’t had the energy to fight with her when she was dating Justin, now that it seemed she was looking out for his best interests, trying to get him what he’d always wanted he still didn’t have the energy to fight her.

He really didn’t want to and it didn’t seem worth it, especially if it got him what he wanted in the long run… he’d probably end up buying her an island somewhere as a thank you gift.

He hadn’t spent so much time with the guys since the tour had ended. It was slightly disconcerting to be the focus of all their undivided attention.

Especially since they were so blatantly obvious about the fact that they were trying to ‘break’ him and Britney up. It probably wouldn’t have been so funny if they were actually a ‘real’ couple.

They brought up every fault that Britney could ever have thought of having, reminded him at least five times a day that she’d cheated on Justin. All the while they were putting Britney down they were talking Justin up. As if JC hadn’t known him for almost half his life. It was like they were trying to convince him to give some blind date a chance before running for the hills.

Chris spent the most time with him, with _them_. He had seemingly, and without JC’s knowledge moved into his house. He was there _all the time_. When JC crawled out of bed at noon Chris was sitting in the kitchen eating whatever cold leftovers were from the night before. He’d smile, sneer at Britney who’d normally arrive around that time and then insinuate himself into whatever plans they’d made for the day. When he crawled into bed at night Chris hovered outside his door as if checking to make sure that JC hadn’t smuggled Britney into his room while he wasn’t looking. JC didn’t doubt that Chris probably crept in while he was asleep to check on just that.

Justin probably called for nightly recaps.

Lance was just as bad. JC had no doubt that if he hadn’t had his ‘something’ (and whatever _that_ was it was bugging the _hell_ out of all of them because Lance refused to share) to take care of that he would have been living in the room next to Chris and together they would have been tag teaming him morning, noon and night.

Joey was the only one that JC would have chosen to spend time with, and most of that was because Kelly kept him so busy with wedding plans so that he was very rarely around. He did make his appearances, but _he_ at least tried to be nice to Britney even though he was distracted by place settings, tuxedos and flowers.

The day that Justin finally arrived JC had hidden himself away in his studio. It was either that or commit mass murder and kill them all.

Chris was driving him nuts, Lance was driving him nuts… even Britney was beginning to drive him nuts and they were working together.

He wished, not for the first time, that they’d all just _leave_. He hadn’t been able to get any work done since this had all started. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been able to write in peace

If his album wasn’t done he would have thought this was Britney’s way of making sure it never got done. But he knew it couldn’t be that because he’d sworn Britney to secrecy and let her listen to some of the demos and she was excited about them.

He heard the loud excitement of Chris’ voice, the low rumble of Lance’s about a second before Britney appeared in the doorway with a grin.

“Justin just showed up with Joey.”

“So we’re thinking boyband intervention then?” JC hit a button and winced when the whole station went black, thankfully he hadn’t been playing with anything important but…

“Well you know they’re all the rage now,” she smirked sitting in the rolling chair next to him. “You should count yourself lucky that you have friends that care about you.”

“Yeah because _everyone_ should have friends that stage interventions to remind you that you’re gay,” JC rolled his eyes spinning in his chair.

“At least they care.”

“Chris has fed me pizza every night this week… With meat, I’ve had to pick it off.”

“Well if you’d remember to eat you wouldn’t have to eat whatever Chris orders.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I am… but you tend to get… distracted when you’re playing down here. Chris and I have been left to stare at each other for the last two days…I’ve been killed about a hundred different times, a hundred different ways in that time...”

“How am I supposed to do this Brit? I have never successfully lied to Justin about anything… ever.”

“So don’t lie to him… tell him the truth…” Britney smiled.

“Tell him the truth? I thought…”

“The truth,” she winked at him and he wrinkled his nose. Her truth was that yes, they were currently dating. He should have been practicing this in front of a mirror.

“Jace,” Justin’s voice was soft behind them, and JC barely managed to keep from jumping. How long had he been standing there? The underlying tension in just the way he said his name was hard to miss. And wow this had to look bad if you weren’t them… as they’d been talking their chairs had inched together, their heads had bowed. They looked like they were intimately sharing secrets.

In front of him Britney’s eyes were wide, her hand reaching out to squeeze his gently before she stood.

Showtime.

“Call me later,” she said softly. She grabbed the bag that she’d tossed on the small couch in the back of the room before she crossed back to him. Bending to press a soft kiss to his lips, his hand came up to touch her hip. It looked familiar, comfortable.

They’d had a lot of practice over the last week. They ignored the steady, soft snarl emanating from the doorway.

As she smiled gently at him she moved towards the door, JC watching. It was one of the few times that he’d got to see Justin and Britney interact since their relationship had been shredded due to Britney’s infidelity.

“Justin,” her voice was civil as she waited for him to move.

“Britney,” his voice on the other hand was decidedly _uncivil_. JC wondered if they would brawl right here, he could almost smell the Alpha Male waves rolling off of Justin right now. Justin was ready to defend his territory, to annihilate the person trying to take his property from him.

How blind had be been that he hadn’t seen it before. Seen that Justin considered him _his_. He hadn’t been looking for it of course but it was so damn obvious.

No wonder Bobbi had always disliked Justin and vice versa. They’d probably been snarling and snapping at each other behind his back.

Britney smiled back at JC, he waved at her before she left. How long would it have taken him to have seen this if Britney hadn’t shown him what to look for? _Would_ he have ever seen it?

“Aren’t you supposed to be on tour?” he asked idly with a small smile, arching a brow as he slouched in his chair. He knew of course that Justin had a two week break; Britney had looked it up on the web the day that he’d been expected and not arrived. Just in case something had happened and he’d been scheduled for concerts during that off period.

They wanted to be prepared for every contingency.

“We have a break,” Justin crossed his arms over his chest, eyes narrowing as he studied JC from head to toe. JC fought to keep from squirming under the perusal.

It was uncomfortable having Justin eye him like that. Like he was looking for bruises or something, anything that would prove that JC had been forcibly coerced into this liaison with Britney.

“So why are you here?” he asked, like he didn’t already know the answer.

“I think we should talk,” Justin walked into the room, closing the door behind him with a barely audible click. A flick of his wrist engaged the lock and JC gnawed on his bottom lip.

“Talk about what J?”

“How ‘bout what you’re doing with Britney.”

“I would have thought that was kind of obvious,” JC frowned, watching Justin pace back and forth before him.

“Is it a game? Something management set up because of your album, couldn’t they have chosen someone _else_ for you?”

“Um…”

“I mean… if they’re going for the sensationalistic factor its working. Pretty much all anybody’s talking about is you and Britney.”

“Justin…” JC started, Justin continued talking over him.

“Its just if they were going to set a beard up for you I really think that it was something that we should have all talked about together… you know as a group,” Justin stopped pacing and stared down at him.

“Why should you guys have anything to say about who I do or don’t date?” And that wasn’t really the point but at least Justin had let him get in a sentence.

“Because this affects us too JC… everything each one of does affects us as a group, as a whole even when we’re not together.”

“So you’re saying that it’s okay for you to date whoever you want, but it’s not okay for me to do the same thing?”

“Okay, you’re _not_ dating her,” JC’s eyes widened slightly because he’d known Justin would be a little upset, especially since it was Britney but he hadn’t thought that he’d be seriously freaked out about it. “I know they’ve explained the beard thing before. And no… you _can’t_ date whoever you want, especially not when it’s Britney. They should have given you somebody else.”

“Okay I’m going to say this one last time. Britney is not my beard… and besides all that I think I’m old enough to decide who I want to date Justin,” JC waved his hand in the air. “I’ve been doing it for years.”

“But she’s a girl.”

“So…”

“Gay C,” Justin’s hands were waving now and if his eyes got any wider they were going to pop right out of his head. Wouldn’t _that_ be fun to explain.

JC sighed, because damn were they all preparing their speeches in advance? Chris and Lance had both said identical things to him.

“She’s an attractive young woman, enough times passed that it doesn’t look to strange and we’re both a little lonely. She’s good company,” JC ignored Justin’s flinch.

“She’s good company… she’s an attractive young woman? Jesus C… Didn’t you think any of this was _weird_? Don’t you think she’s getting something else out of this…? I mean Britney normally goes for pretty boys, look at Wade.”

“You think women can’t find me attractive?” JC scowled, he knew that 90% of their fans were there because of what Justin looked like but he didn’t think that the rest of them were elephant men or anything.

“No… I didn’t say that JC, that’s not…” Justin frowned, rubbing at his head in confusion. Probably trying to figure out exactly how he’d lost control of the conversation and started insulting him. “You’re gay.”

“Thank you for reminding me… again,” JC snorted, rolling his eyes. “It’s not like Chris and Joey and Lance haven’t been reminding me of that fact for the last week.”

“It’s just… JC…” Justin knelt before him. Touching his knees gently, his eyes earnest. “Tell me the truth baby…”

“The truth,” JC sighed, leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He wondered if Justin even knew the endearment had left his lips, wondered what endearments he casually used on Cameron. He laid his hand over one of Justin’s and squeezed it gently.

“Help me understand this… Tell me that Britney forced you to do it… hell tell me _Johnny_ forced you to do this…”

“Nobody’s forcing me to do anything Justin.”

Justin stared at him; while JC fought back the urge to look away. Their eyes locked together and JC got the impression that since Justin felt he wasn’t being totally honest with him that Justin was searching for the answers to his questions.

Justin knew him well enough that he could read the little nuances of every flicker of his face. If muscles twitched he was going to know what was going on. JC schooled himself to calmness, thinking of peaceful oceans, clear skies.

Was Justin even conscious of the fact that he had twisted his hand under JC’s and that they were linked together?

“I don’t believe you,” Justin finally said softly and JC winced. “There’s something going on here.”

“Justin…”

“There’s something going on here… and I’m going to figure it out.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
It had killed her waiting until the next day to find out what had happened. But JC hadn’t called and she didn’t want to be labeled the psychotic girlfriend who always had to know where her boyfriend was so she had found things to keep her occupied.

Her closet was now organized by color and she had two bags of things to donate to various charities. She’d been productive even as she’d been biting her nails down to the cuticles. The next time they went to get a manicure Carol was going to scream at her. The only thing that made her feel any better was that she didn’t think JC’s nails or fingers were in better shape.

They had a standing meeting for coffee; normally Lance (the caffeine junkie) trailed along behind JC so Britney was surprised to not see anyone behind him when he walked in.

She managed to contain herself while he sat, tapped her fingers against the table while he ordered.

“So?” She knew her voice was bubbly and overly excited. She couldn’t help it. Her love life was being vicariously lived through JC at this point. Things wouldn’t have changed that much during the previous day, Justin was many things but he wasn’t a cheater. He was still with Cameron he would have kept his hands to himself.

“He held my hand,” Britney smiled until she realized that JC’s voice was strange sounding and he looked kind of weird, the smiled faded quickly. “And he called me baby… I don’t think he realized he was even doing it though.”

“Oh sweetie,” she patted his hand, drawing it back into her lap when the waitress reappeared with their coffees and a muffin. This waitress seemed to like JC a _lot_ , in the last five days she’d given him free food every time.

She probably like half the free world thought that JC was to skinny and had made it her personal mission in life to fatten him up.

“He’s really jealous of you… how did I not see that?”

“Because you’re blind,” she said it kindly, because it wasn’t an insult. It was a statement of fact and JC knew it.

“He thinks that you’re a set up… a beard you know… he didn’t believe me when I told him you weren’t. He thinks there’s something going on.” JC wrinkled his nose as he alternated between tearing his muffin into pieces and sipping his coffee. She snagged a piece of the muffin before he totally demolished it and chewed thoughtfully.

“Of course he does.”

“He’s not supposed to know that yet… I don’t know if I can do this… you should have seen his face,” JC’s was somber and Britney frowned. She didn’t want JC to be in pain over this, she wanted him to finally end up with Justin. “He didn’t believe me but… “

“We can stop you know… just say the word…”

“I just… he was… sad… I mean he didn’t do anything, just the handholding and the baby but…”

“It’s a start… we could use this to our advantage…” she gnawed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. “Schedule a double date or something with him and Cameron. That’d drive him nuts, move things along quicker…”

“He’d kill both of us.”

Britney just grinned, mentally running down the list of numbers in her head. She didn’t have Cameron’s but she had Jared’s. She wondered what it would cost her to get the number from him.

“How did you get out of the house without an escort? I would have thought Justin would have an ankle bracelet on you by now… you know for ease of tracking and retrieval.”

“I climbed down the trellis,” he mumbled.

“Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“I’m kidding,” he smirked at her; it seemed some of his good humor was returning at the sudden influx of coffee and muffin crumbs. “You know I’d kill myself if I tried that.”

“Yeah you’d get distracted by a floor or a weed, or some weird growth thing and you’d fall to your death… I’m sure Justin and the others would find some way to pin that on me.”

“I’ve no doubt… but everyone was still asleep so I walked right out the front door; they stayed up late talking about us…”

“And how do you know that young man?” she grinned.

“Must be your bad influence rubbing off on me… I eavesdropped, they didn’t even know I was there,” JC giggled.

“Great,” she rolled her eyes. “Something else that Justin can blame on me when this is all over with.”

“I was eavesdropping long before you… anyway, Chris thinks this is all some publicity stunt, which Justin agreed with he just doesn’t think it came from my side…”

“So he thinks _my_ PR team came up with it?” she laughed. “My PR team couldn’t come up with that on a _good_ day.”

“Joey thinks we might actually be dating, Justin almost killed him… and god only knows what Lance thinks… he’s distracted by his _something_.”

“Yeah what _is_ up with Lance lately? He’s been acting slightly stranger then normal.”

“He’s up to something.”

“When has Lance _not_ been up to something?”

“Yeah but normally he shares whatever it is with us so it doesn’t come as a huge shock and bite us all in the ass after the fact.”

“Well its Lance… how bad could it be?”

“Famous last words… I’ll remind you that you said them when he takes over the world.”

  


******************************************************************************

  



	5. Has A Double Date With Ex’s

He should have known the minute that he got home and found Cameron standing in his living room that something was really wrong.

He’d had a headache though and JC’d been missing when he’d got up. When he’d finally reappeared it had been with Britney and they’d been holding hands, smiling, laughing. Justin had wanted to kill them.

Or Britney at least. She knew how he felt about JC; she was like one of eight people who knew.

He’d been worried after they broke up that she was going to out him during an interview or something. That she’d just sort of casually mention that Justin had always thought JC was dreamy.

He would have killed her of course but…

So he’d walked into the house, actually he’d stomped into the house. He’d been frustrated, slightly irritated and his headache felt like it was going to take off the top of his head. He’d just wanted a quiet, dark room to sit and brood in for a few hours before he returned to the fray at JC’s. Instead he’d walked into his house, and seen Cameron.

The smile on her face alone should have had him running for the hills screaming… it certainly in no way, shape or form could be considered _friendly_.

Of course there was also the fact that she was _not_ supposed to be there.

“Aren’t you supposed to be having a spa day with ‘tina?”

“I got a phone call this morning,” her voice was bright and Justin’s eyes narrowed. She sounded positively gleeful… this could _not_ be anything good.

At least not for him. And he was really not in the mood to deal with this.

“Okay… welcome to the age of the cellphone… did you have a hard time giving up the pen and paper?”

Cameron crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him. He winced, stared down at the carpet toeing it with his shoe as he muttered a vague apology under his breath; he was going to pay for that later.

“Britney called me this morning.” Justin’s head shot up, a look of alarm on his face.

“Brit called you? Why would _Britney_ call you? How did she get your number in the first place?”

“Yes Britney called me, she got my number from Jared…” a hand flew up to halt the questions rumbling on the edge of Justin’s lips. “He called to warn me that he’d given it to her… he said she was really sweet on the phone… which actually she was,” Cameron said musingly.

“Yeah she’s got great phone etiquette,” Justin grumbled.

“I don’t think phone sex counts as having good phone etiquette,” she grinned.

“So yeah…” he coughed lightly. “ _Why’d_ Brit call you?” he asked trying to steer the conversation back to territory less likely to have him being sued for slander if Britney found out that he’d told Cameron and Christina about the phone sex in the first place. That was if she didn’t try and off him before then. He was the competition now, and Britney played dirty when she wanted something enough bad enough.

“She wants to double date.”

“Double date,” Justin repeated after her dumbly. He rubbed his head, blinked twice, then _shook_ his head. Because he certainly couldn’t have heard _that_ right.

“Double date,” Cameron confirmed with a nod. “You, me, JC and Britney. She’s thinking dinner then a movie.”

“Dinner and a movie… together?”

“That is typically what a double date means, yes.”

“Right… and you told her no right, because things are strange enough right now as it is and _that_ would take the strangeness to a whole ‘nother level that I don’t think I’m quite prepared to deal with… unless it means that I’ll have JC naked sooner rather than later.”

“TMI Justin. And I told her we’d be happy to,” Cameron grinned.

“You told her… Are you fucking nuts?!?” Justin exploded and Cameron laughed. “Do you _want_ me to kill her, is that your plan? I kill Britney and you run off with JC instead.”

“He’s not my type.”

“Yeah he’s a nice guy; I forgot you don’t _do_ nice guys.”

Reminder: New friends. Very, _very_ soon.

“I think it’d be fun… plus it’ll give me time to learn more about JC.”

“You don’t need to _know_ anything more about JC.”

“He’s your best friend sweetie,” Cameron cooed at him. “And as your girlfriend I think it’s only right that I get to know your friends better. Besides… he’s the only one that I don’t know that well, I don’t think he likes me.”

“You’re not my girlfriend and JC likes everybody… well almost everybody,” Justin amended. “He normally doesn’t like people who’ve fucked me over in any way.”

“So he just dates them then?” Cameron’s smiled was innocent and sweet. It was just really to bad that Justin knew it was almost always an act. “And honey everyone thinks we’re dating… there are certain things that people expect with that in mind. One of those things is me getting to know your friends better.”

“I think you’ve gloated enough Cam, isn’t ‘tina waiting for you?”

“As a matter of fact yes,” she glanced at her watch, probably just to double check. “I wouldn’t worry about it Justin, the early pool has you in the lead.”

“Excuse me? Are you _betting_ on me?”

“Of course,” she smirked. “I’ve got a thousand bucks on your sweet ass stealing JC away from Britney.”

“You’re betting on me,” Justin shook his head in disbelief, which shouldn’t have surprised him because Cameron and Christina had been betting on much more mundane things before his love-life had become semi-interesting. “You’re betting on my _life_.”

“Yep… don’t worry pretty much nobody’s betting against the home team… even the Backstreet Boys are betting on you succeeding. I’d watch out for Nick Carter though, he’s got money on you but I think he really wants to see you lose to Britney. What the hell did you do to that poor boy?”

“It was nothing,” Justin frowned. “Who’s holding the pot and taking the bets?”

“Trace.”

“Trace,” he shook his head. It so figured.

“I told Britney Saturday was good for both of us, so unless you’ve broken them up by then I’d plan on putting your best face forward.”

“I think I need a drink,” Justin rubbed a hand across his face.

“Thousand bucks,” she smiled. “Don’t let me down pretty boy.”

New friends. ASAP.

  


******************************************************************************

  
JC stared at the clothes laid out on his bed with a vague sense of growing horror. This was such a horribly _bad_ idea that he was contemplating faking the flu or some other life threatening illness.

He probably would have if he hadn’t thought that Justin and Britney would bring their battle to his bedside. Britney as his doting ‘girlfriend’, Justin as his concerned ‘best friend’. It was highly ironic that they were playing each others roles.

Justin and Britney were going to be the death of him, he just knew it. Justin and Britney, who hadn’t even managed to have a conversation consisting of more then five words, only two of them civil ones, were going to be stuck together for hours. It would have been funny if he and Cameron weren’t going to be caught in the crossfire while the battle raged.

This was going to be the double date from _hell_. In his minds eye he could clearly see him and Cameron refereeing as Justin and Britney snarked at each other all night. Unless it turned into a full out brawl.

He still had absolutely no idea how Britney had got Cameron and Justin to agree to do this. _Why_ Justin had agreed to do this was beyond him.

“You aren’t dressed yet,” Britney’s voice from the doorway and JC jumped. Hands’ flying to his waist to make sure his towel was still securely fastened; he was wearing underwear of course but still…

Because that would be his luck lately, having the towel fall off because Britney surprised him, then Justin would walk in and he’d get pissed and kill Britney. Then Chris and Lance would help bury her in his backyard and they’d give soft spoken sad interviews saying they didn’t know anything about anything.

“Your powers of intuition amaze even me,” JC grumbled.

“Don’t be a snarky bitch, I think that’s going to be Justin’s role for the evening… I wore a bulletproof vest under my t-shirt,” Britney smirked and sometimes even as well as JC knew her he couldn’t tell when she was joking or not.

If he’d been in her place, he’d have _so_ been wearing some sort of protection. Justin wasn’t even his boyfriend and he was already tired of the over-protectiveness and possessiveness. He was a grown man he could take care of himself. Sometimes it might not look like it but he could.

“Justin and Cameron are going to be here in thirty minutes, and while I don’t think Cameron or I would mind if you went out on the date in the towel, Justin would probably try to gauge our eyes out for looking at you… so clothes,” she pointed to the bed tapping her foot impatiently.

“How did you get in here anyway…? I though Chris and Lance were guarding the doors with their bodies,” JC muttered. It was like he was under house arrest in his own home. He was expecting random drug testing to start any day now. It was the only thing they hadn’t tried yet.

“Lance got a phone call and Chris couldn’t guard both doors. I wanted to make sure you weren’t freaking out… which was probably a good idea because you are.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” JC asked, ignoring the rolling of Britney’s eyes as he pulled his pants on. They were a little on the tight side. Britney had helped him pick out the clothes, assuring him that he’d look fabulous. This night had all the markings of either being really fantastic or really horrible.

“You worry too much, in a few weeks when you’re deliriously happy and so sated on sex that you can’t move I’ll remind you that you were freaking out.”

“I’m not freaking out,” he muttered as he finished pulling the pants on, tossing the towel aside, scowling at the shirt. It was one of his plainer ones. Designed to keep from drawing attention to himself. He hadn’t been able to convince Britney to let him wear one with a little color… or embroidery. “You and Justin are going to be on your best behavior right?”

“I promise to not _goad_ him into attacking me but if he attacks first I’m defending myself.”

“I know,” he tossed the towel on the bed. “He’s promised to be good.”

“You talked to him about this?” she asked curiously setting on the edge of the bed, cocking her head as she studied him. He held out his arms allowing her eyes to scrutinize his attire, his hair. When she smiled he smiled back. It had become a familiar act over the last week and made him feel slightly better.

Even if the night was a horrible disaster at least he knew he looked good.

  


******************************************************************************

  
JC wondered if it would be insane if he and Cameron ran off together. He thought it might be easier than trying to deal with both Justin and Britney at the same time.

He made a mental note to ask Britney if mental illness ran in her family because this double date (or hell as he’d come to think of it in the short time that he’d been _stuck_ in it) had not sprung from the mind of a sane woman.

He thought they were going to get into a fist fight at the counter when he’d casually mentioned that he felt like popcorn. Britney was playing up the girlfriend angle so well that there were actually a few minutes where he’d believed their own hype. But then she’d wink at him, or whisper something in his ear and he’d remember that yes this was not real and they were doing it for a reason

A very tight, denim clad reason. He wondered if Cameron had helped Justin get dressed, he’d have to thank her… then he banished that thought because it led to other thoughts that made him think un _kind_ thoughts about Cameron.

Cameron who was being such a great sport about her boyfriend basically ignoring her and fawning over JC. She’d actually laughed at him twice, Justin had flushed like they had some private joke… which they probably did and damn there went his kind thoughts.

Justin had held the doors, paid for the tickets… JC knew that if he didn’t get his hands on the bill at the restaurant quick enough that Justin would pay for that as well.

He’d let JC pick the seats in the theater before plopping down in the chair next to him, squirming to get comfortable as Britney and Cameron had taken their own seats.

When the lights had dimmed and the previews had started he’d thought he was going to be holding both Justin and Britney’s hands before Justin had remembered himself, grumbled something quietly that JC couldn’t hear but that Cameron had laughed at and started eating popcorn.

They’d decided to do the movie first; actually he and Cameron had decided to do the movie first. Justin and Britney had been to busy glaring at each other to care one way or another.

It was the longest two hours and thirty minutes that he’d ever had the misfortune to live through. He hadn’t even realized that Justin had spent more time watching him and by default Britney until Justin had almost jumped out of his seat when Britney had laid her head on his shoulder. He figured that Britney _had_ known as her body had been shaking with barely constrained laughter.

JC had tried to ignore him, tried to act the role of doting boyfriend. Hand holding, quick kisses… all the while his body was filled with awareness of Justin. Humming desperately. Justin just watched, studying, waiting.

They’d left silently after the movie, although walking out of the aisle had been interesting. They’d all been pressed close together in the crush, and he wasn’t positive but he thought Justin might have felt him up. Of course if it hadn’t been Justin he wondered if he should be worried, because the only other people in the position to do that had been Cameron and strangers.

They were at dinner now, Justin and Britney studiously ignoring each other and studying their menus, which was kind of stupid because he’d eaten here with both of them numerous times and they always got the same exact thing.

JC and Cameron exchanged wry grins and JC added an apologetic look just because. He wanted Justin, but he didn’t want anyone to get hurt as he accomplished his goal.

He squeezed Britney’s hand under the table.

“I’ll be right back,” he murmured softly. She nodded, smiling gently. He knew that she knew that he needed a minute to re-strengthen both his nerves and his defenses. Justin was very systematically destroying both even with his girlfriend sitting right next to him.

“Do you want me to order for you C?” Justin smiled, a friendly, sweet _honest_ smile and JC couldn’t help but return it. Regardless of everything else Justin was still his best friend and he adored him.

“I’ve got it Justin,” Britney said laying her menu down. “He gets the same thing every time.”

“Not always, he got chicken once… through us all for a loop,” Justin was scowling when JC stood, folded his napkin, set it on his chair and walked away.

In the bathroom he ran a hand through his hair. He still couldn’t decide if he liked it straight or curly.

He wondered if the others would miss him if he snuck out the back door.

“You okay?” Justin’s voice was quiet behind him and JC jumped slightly before whirling to face him.

“I’m fine, just needed…”

“A break, from us…” Justin laughed sharply. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Britney and I… we… can’t seem to get along.”

“It’s understandable J, this was such a horrible idea,” JC shook his head. “I don’t know what Britney was thinking.”

“I don’t know,” Justin’s eyes ran down his body. “Anything that puts you in tight leather can’t be all that bad.”

JC choked down the hysterical laughter and managed to restrain the ‘do you remember Cameron is sitting right outside this door chatting with Britney’ comment but couldn’t keep his eyebrows from flying into his hairline. He figured he had to look like a crazy person but since Justin was just pretty much staring at the leather pants, probably wondering how he’d got into them and when he’d bought them.

It would definitely ruin Justin’s good spirits if JC told him that the pants he was admiring Britney had picked out so he didn’t say anything.

“Right…” JC fell silent, because really what did one say to that? He wished now that he didn’t know about Justin’s feelings, it would be easier to not read subtext into everything and just enjoy the evening. But if he didn’t know they wouldn’t be here because he wouldn’t be dating Britney and it all was like a big circle and now he had a headache.

“Are you happy with her?” Justin’s voice was quiet and fairly young sounding and it took a moment for JC to realize that the younger male had moved into his personal space.

“What?” He knew he sounded confused, because he’d expected a lot of things after the leather comment but certainly not _that_. It had always amazed him how Justin could change moods at the drop of a hat.

“Because you don’t _look_ happy,” Justin said softly his eyes searching for _something_. “And I’ve been watching C… you don’t kiss her, you don’t touch her, you don’t make any moves at all towards her unless I’m watching… or you _think_ I’m watching.”

“Justin…”

“I think it’s all an act,” his fingers were soft where they were touching JC’s face now. Drawing a line from the corner of his eye, across his cheekbone, across his lips… when had Justin started touching him? And why wasn’t he moving away? Because Cameron… right. out. side. And she wouldn’t _not_ understand this.

“J…”

“Some elaborate act… I just can’t figure out who it’s all for… For the public, for the media,” he felt like he was getting lost in Justin’s eyes, hypnotized by the sound of his voice. He really needed someone to show up _right now_ before he did something stupid.

Like jumped Justin in the men’s room of a fancy restaurant.

“Or for me,” Justin finished and he was close enough now that JC could feel the heat of his body.

In that moment JC could swear he could see everything, could see every hope, every dream, every _wish_ that Justin had ever had or made. He’d been one of them. To Justin he’d been a wish and a dream and a hope, he’d just never seen it. And suddenly JC wanted to tell him everything. Every secret that he’d ever held within him… including the one he currently shared with Britney.

“Justin,” if he leaned forward an inch their lips would be touching. They’d be kissing. Justin would be betraying Cameron and JC couldn’t find it in himself to care and he knew he should.

Cameron was a good person, she didn’t deserve heartache not by JC’s hands, not by Justin’s.

“JC? Justin?” Britney’s voice interrupted them, a heavy knock on the door pulling them back to themselves. Reminding them where they were and who they were supposed to there with. “Appetizers are at the table are you coming?”

Justin flushed as he stepped back eyes on the floor, JC sighed turning back to the mirror, plucked at his hair futilely. Maybe he should just cut it off? Justin seemed to like his head being shaved maybe they could start a new trend.

He sighed, glanced over at an unmoving Justin and walked to the door. Smiling down at Britney when it opened. Her eyebrows arched in question, flying over to where Justin was studying the floor intently. She winked at him, smirking as she took his hand.

“You know your timing? It’s either really great or just totally sucks I can’t decide,” JC muttered under his breath as he settled in his chair. “I just thought you should know.” He watched covertly as Justin sat quietly down in his chair, leaning over to whisper something in Cameron’s ear that made her grin wildly.

He felt the puff of air on the side of his face as he turned to where Britney was now right next to him.

Literally.

“Be a good boy,” she murmured in a breath so soft that he had to strain to hear her and her lips were brushing his ear. “Won’t be much longer. Will it?”

  


******************************************************************************

  



	6. Has More Plans

“So…” Trace’s voice was light with humor; Justin left his head resting on the kitchen table. They’d made him stop banging it against the kitchen table when they came in. Something about concussions and not wanting JC and the others to get pissed at them for letting him injure himself.

“Don’t even start with me, I’m not in any mood,” Justin warned him, his voice muffled by the wood.

“Yes Justin had a bad night,” Cameron’s voice was grinning; Justin knew if he looked up she’d have some big shit-eating grin on her face. Didn’t she have her own home?

“It wasn’t that bad,” Justin muttered.

“No… JC looked edible as hell in those pants, who do you think he wore them for… you or her?”

Justin lifted his head slowly; he’d shared some of his suspicions with Cameron on the way back to the house. He was surprised to not see a smirk or grin in sight, on either Cameron or Trace’s face.

“I don’t know…” he said slowly, his eyes flickering between his two friends.

“You do remember that you only have four days left right? That you have to be…” Cameron frowned as she struggled to remember the next stop on the tour. “Somewhere for your next concert by Thursday afternoon.”

“I remember,” Justin sighed rubbing at his forehead. He probably had a red mark on his forehead from where he’d been banging it against the table, if it was still there when he went over to JC’s there might be some mothering involved.

Maybe some kissing. If Cameron had kept Britney at their table for two more minutes last night there would have already _been_ kissing. But there wasn’t and now JC was going to be hyper aware of every move that Justin made towards him and keep trying to cut him off.

“Two minutes, you couldn’t have, I don’t know, talked about the god damn _weather_ and kept her at the table for two fucking minutes,” Justin grumbled.

“She seemed very anxious about the two of you being alone together.”

“She probably thought I had a deprogrammer hidden in the bathroom.”

“There is that,” Cameron cleared her throat then asked brightly. “So what are you going to do now? I mean four days… its not a lot of time.”

“Isn’t this like insider trading?” Justin asked. “You know, finding out what my next plan is and then betting accordingly.”

“Only if I use it.”

“Which I won’t let her do,” Trace grinned. “At least not unless she shares whatever she wins with me.”

“Besides the fact that so far everything you’ve done hasn’t worked. I’d be pretty much better off betting _against_ whatever idea you have.”

“Thanks for the unwavering love and support guys, I really appreciate it.”

“Good,” Cameron winked at him. “So next plan.”

“I have no idea. It’s going to be hard to keep an eye on things between them while I’m on the road…”

“And there’s no way in hell you’re going to have them broken up before then,” Trace finished. “Well you’re not… you know that if they’re _really_ going out that JC’s going to have told Britney all about what happened in the bathroom.”

“Yeah,” Justin muttered morosely.

“And if Britney knows she’s going to go out of her _way_ to make sure that you have zero alone time with JC until you go back on tour.”

“I know that.”

“Which means that you’re going to have to be really sneaky if you want to spend any semblance of quality time with him before you leave.”

“I’m aware of this.”

“Unless of course you just have her killed,” Trace looked over at where Justin and Cameron were both staring at him. Justin knew from experience that he had tangents every so often; sometimes they’d rival JC’s.

“Do you think Lance would know anybody?”

  


******************************************************************************

  
JC had been pacing a hole in his bedroom carpet when Britney had arrived. She’d taken one look at the state of his room, then at him and sighed loudly. She’d been shaking her head, muttering under her breath something he couldn’t hear as she pulled scented candles from under the sink in his bathroom.

He’d just gaped at her, because he hadn’t even known they were there. Plus he was pretty sure he hadn’t been the one that bought them, he didn’t _do_ scented candles. He preferred the spray and potpourri.

They were prettier and less likely to burn his house down if he forgot about them for long periods of time.

Which he was prone to do. Justin had to have brought them over and left them.

Once she’d lit the candles, ignoring JC’s raised eyebrows when she pulled a book of matches from her purse, she took both of his hands in her own and stared into his worried eyes.

“Take a deep breath,” she ordered, smiling softly when he complied. “Hold it,” she squeezed his hands gently. “Now release…” when he’d released the breath in a huff and was staring at her in confusion she grinned. “Feel better?”

“Not really,” he frowned. “Was I supposed to?”

She rolled her eyes releasing his hands. A second glance around the room probably told her everything that she needed to know. JC had been bit by the insomnia bug; there were clothes and papers strewn all _over_ the normally tidy room.

JC liked order and peace… he _really_ liked order, and peace was a particular favorite.

She was probably berating herself for not staying, but she’d grimaced when he’d invited her in. Muttered something about not having the strength to deal with Chris just then, so he’d filled her in on the more important aspects of the evening (namely the kiss that hadn’t happened) as they’d stood by her car after Justin and Cameron had dropped them off.

Justin had fought it but since her car was at JC’s he didn’t really have any say in the matter.

They’d almost kissed in the bathroom, that’s what JC had relayed to her. In between hyperventilating and just generally freaking out. He’d tried to be calm. Really calm.

It hadn’t worked.

  


******************************************************************************

  
Britney wondered if Justin was actually making a play for JC or if this was just his way of driving the other singer insane. If it was it was working.

Justin, it seemed, was playing fast and loose with JC’s emotions as well as Cameron’s. And for someone who’d had the psychotic blow out that _he’d_ had (not to mention the songs and the video that she’d almost _sued_ his ass for) when he’d found out about Wade she couldn’t believe that he was getting ready to put Cameron through the same thing.

Unless…

“Are we sure that Justin and Cameron are dating?”

“What?”

“Well Justin… not so much the cheating type. And if he were really with Cameron…”

“I don’t think he even remembered that there _was_ a Cameron until you knocked on the bathroom door.”

“Yeah… sorry about that…” she knew she looked decidedly unapologetic and couldn’t even muster a sympathetic look.

“Yeah right,” JC muttered under his breath.

“So are we…?”

“Are we what?” he rubbed at his head and Britney dug through her purse pulling out the small bottle of aspirin that she’d taken to keeping on her. She knew that if she kept talking about Justin that he’d have a migraine and be down for the rest of the day.

Almost two weeks and they were really acting like a couple. Another two and people would start asking when they were getting married. Which reminded her that they would eventually have to talk about how they were going to handle the ‘break-up’.

She wanted painless and blameless.

“Are we sure that Justin and Cameron are dating.”

“There was that article, she’s touring with him, we just went on the double date from _hell_ , thanks for suggesting _that_ by the way,” she smiled angelically at him. “And those are all key signs that yes, they _are_ dating.”

“ _We_ had articles, and ours had more pictures. Neither one of us is touring so… but…” she shrugged.

“Yes but as you keep reminding me oh so helpfully, we _are_ actually dating,” JC grumbled as he dry swallowed the pills she handed him then ran a hand through his hair. Frowning as he did so.

“Yeah we are… but that’s it? That’s all the proof that there is that they’re dating?”

“Well there’s the touring thing.”

“Window dressing,” she waved her hand at him as drew her bottom lip between her teeth.

“She’s pretty window dressing that he’s fucking then.”

“I don’t think he’s fucking anybody… at least not yet,” she winked at him.

“You think they’re not really dating?”

“The way Justin was brought up, added to the what he went through when all that shit went down with Wade and me… there’s no way that he’d put someone he cared about through that. Justin’s not a cheater.”

“And you think I am?”

“I didn’t say that JC… don’t have a heart attack please? I so couldn’t explain it to the guys.”

“Then do you think he knows about the plan? Damnit he knows, he wouldn’t be doing this if he thought that we were actually together… I told you that no one was going to believe this.” JC’s eyes were wide, almost comical in their shock.

“Calm down,” she rolled her eyes. “If he knew he that we weren’t actually _together_ , together he wouldn’t be expending so much energy, he wouldn’t have the _guys_ expending so much energy trying to break us up. He’d just be sitting back waiting for one of us to fuck up so he could laugh in our faces. Or let the public commit mass murder.”

“So what…?”

“He really thinks we’re really dating,” she grinned and after a moment he returned it. “And just like I told you he’s swooping in to rescue you from big bad Britney.”

“You’re not so bad,” JC smiled. “At the moment you’re the best friend I’ve got.”

“Awww… you’re only saying that because I’m helping you finally land Justin.”

“Whatever… so what do we do now?”

“Maybe we… turn it up a notch?”

“I’m not sleeping with you,” he said automatically.

“Uh-uh…”

“And I’m not _marrying_ you either.”

“Maybe just an engagement… a short one?”

“You’re out of your mind,” he said decisively. Glaring at her. “And I think you’re going to take me with you.”

“Can I keep the ring when we’re done?”

“You want me to buy a ring and announce an engagement… I told my parents that this wouldn’t happen.”

“So you call them back and tell them that it’s all part of the plan.”

“But then I’d have to tell them about the Justin part of it… and trust me at this point, in their eyes, fake girlfriend or fiancé or whatever you’re looking pretty damn good.”

“They just want grandchildren.”

“Yeah my fathers’ biological clock is fucking ticking a mile a minute,” JC grumbled.

“Normally it’s the women.”

“Maybe my dad is just in touch with his feminine side.”

Britney grinned. “Knew you got it from somewhere.”

“Adopted.”

“Whatever.”

“And what about Johnny? What the hell am I going to tell Johnny?”

“What have you told him so far?”

“Not much… just you know that we were kind of, sort of seeing each other. In a totally friends, platonic sort of way… and that he couldn’t tell anyone…”

“So you tell him that… well I don’t know what you tell him. Maybe that we’re keeping it really quiet for the time being while we wait for Justin to calm down a bit.”

“You know he’s been preparing my ‘coming out to the public, I’m so sorry I hid my sexuality but still buy our music’ speech for about two years. I don’t think he ever thought he was going to have to rewrite it for an ‘I’m getting married to my best-friends ex-girlfriend, but it’s all a ruse because he’s a stubborn son-of-a-bitch and won’t admit that _he’s_ gay’ speech ever,” Britney grinned because yes, as she had first learned the morning after the plan had started. JC had a sarcastic wit that he was just beginning to realize.

She hoped he didn’t cage it back in when the group finally got back together. She foresaw a few dropped mouths if he could manage to keep it while sharing a bus with Justin and Chris again.

“Just how much information have you shared with Johnny?”

“Not that much, give me some credit,” it was JC’s turn to roll his eyes and her grin widened. “I told him that we’d run into each other, had fun and would probably, most likely be going to some events together. But that we didn’t think it would be that serious. You know… just having fun.”

“Which translated to Johnny speak means that he thinks that you’re fighting with Justin and poking at him using me.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No but the guys have probably gotten used to having to translate the things you don’t say into English after about a month of non-tangentials,” Britney mumbled as she dug around her bag looking for her palm pilot. “So when do you want to go looking for rings… and you never answered me… do I get to keep it when we’re done?”

******************************************************************************

  



	7. Has Ring Catalogs

Justin was frustrated. It had been a long morning, punctuated by self-injury and much mocking, disguised as concern by his ‘friends’. And it seemed to be getting even longer as he waited for someone to let him into JC’s house.

He _knew_ there was somebody in there; he could _hear_ the television it was turned up so loud. So that led him to believe that he was being avoided, shunned, left out on the doorstep.

Cameron had patted him on the back before he left, telling him to tell JC the truth about everything. Especially her… before JC and Britney decided to get married leaving him being the best man for the man he was in love with.

He’d scowled, because unless she was psychic she couldn’t know that things would go that far. He’d go insane before things got that far. He’d then insisted that would never happen because he’d kidnap JC before he’d allow him to walk down the aisle with that viper.

Now he had to wonder what had happened, he’d known leaving JC and Britney alone in the driveway had been a huge, _horrible_ mistake. Britney had probably convinced him to run off to Vegas and get married in some tacky, one hour marriage chapel.

He was so going to have to book Cameron on Letterman or some shit while Lance was taking care of the annulment.

“Oh hey,” Chris’ face appeared suddenly before him as the door was opened and he lurched forward, years of dancing just barely keeping him from making an absolute fool of himself by collapsing onto the ground. “You’re early.”

Justin glanced down at his watch, frowned when he realized that Chris was right and then scowled at Chris for just general purposes.

“Don’t even look at me like that boy,” Chris grinned, a demonic light in his eyes.

“What’s happened?” he sighed loudly. Because he’d been hoping that by _thinking_ about Britney and JC getting married (he barely repressed the answering shudder at _that_ thought) that it wouldn’t happen.

“Nothing,” Chris said innocently. “I just want you to know that it’s totally _not my fault_.”

“Right,” Justin rubbed at the spot right between his eyes. Maybe he had a tumor or something; there was absolutely no explainable reason why he kept getting these migraines in exactly the same spot. “Just tell me.”

“I think it’d be better if I show you,” there was a frisson of discomfort that raced down Justin’s spine, because Chris, with _that_ expression on his face? Could mean nothing good. At least not for Justin.

“She’s not here is she?”

“Oh no… she left about an hour ago.”

“Don’t even tell me she spent the night, not unless you’re also telling me that she either spent it on the couch or you slept between them. Because Chris… I’m so not in the mood…”

“She went home like a good little girl,” there was the classic Chris snort at what he thought of that statement. “And JC slept alone in his bed like a good little boy… I know because I got up four times to check… wouldn’t put it past her to climb the trellis or something,” the last said under his breath and Justin smirked. Because at the very least he had one person that was on his side. Even though Chris seemed to take an unholy pleasure in his misery when he wasn’t being screamed at for not preventing it in the first place.

“Good, then what… Where are we going?” Justin frowned as Chris led him down the stairs to JC’s studio. He knew that JC had taken to hiding out down there; away from the judgmental eyes of his friends, and that would have been the first place that Justin looked for him.

Once he’d checked in with the guys of course and found out what had happened the previous night, made sure that Britney had gone home and JC had slept alone.

Not that he _wanted_ JC sleeping alone, but JC should be sleeping with _him_ not doing whatever it was that he was doing with Britney. And if JC _was_ actually sleeping with her (which he didn’t think he was) than hell had fury like Justin pissed off as all hell.

“Studio…” Chris was grinning, Justin could tell even though he couldn’t see his face.

“I could come down by myself Chris, I do know the way you know,” he knew he sounded irritated, hell he felt irritated. And annoyed. And slightly worried but he didn’t know where that had come from.

“Yeah but then I couldn’t see your face,” Chris waved at the door, arm up barring him from entering.

“What the…?” Justin glanced at the arm stopping him, and glared at the man attached to that arm.

“Look,” Chris instructed, Justin rolled his eyes… because as much as they called JC a drama queen sometimes he had nothing on Chris in full drama mode.

He pushed Chris’ arm aside and touched the door, peering through the glass window. Inside the room JC and Lance were sitting together at the console, although Lance seemed to be worrying his bottom lip with his teeth glancing intermittently at the door and his watch, while JC was engrossed in whatever magazine he was flipping through and was certainly not working on anything music related.

“I don’t…” Justin started as JC turned to Lance, holding the magazine out to him. Justin’s eyes widened, his breath halted and his heart stuttered to a stop in his chest.

Was this what a heart attack felt like?

He felt vaguely lightheaded, wondered if Cameron had called over that morning and found out what he was only now learning.

JC and Britney were not a long-term couple, they weren’t even a short term couple. They were an atrocity; the church would probably condemn them and view them as a portent of a coming apocalypse.

There was certainly no reason for JC to be looking at rings that would look hideous on his fingers.

Because that’s what JC was doing… he was looking at rings, fairly nice sized ones from the picture that JC was showing Lance.

Lance was shaking his head and JC had that stubborn look on his face, the one that meant he was digging his feet in and was going to fight for his choice.

“Fuck,” he swore under his breath.

He felt Chris’ hands on his shoulders, massaging lightly. “We just found out about an hour ago…” his friends voice was soft. No amusement to be found, in fact he sounded almost as stunned as Justin felt.

What the _hell_ was Britney up to? And why had JC agreed with it? They’d been dating for fourteen days and he was already looking at fucking rings?! What the hell!?!

He pushed the door open and from the way that Lance leapt to his feet and JC jumped in his seat he figured the expression on his face was absolutely murderous.

He certainly felt like killing someone. If Britney had walked in at the moment he would have strangled her with his bare hands he was so livid. At himself, at her, even at JC to some degree.

Because JC should have stopped it before it got this far.

“I think…” Lance waved at the door, Chris nodding emphatically. Both of their heads bopping around in movements that reminded him of their bobble heads. Lance plucked the ring magazine from JC’s hands ignoring his protests as he then pushed Chris towards the door, letting it shut behind them.

“Justin…” JC’s eyes were wide and now he looked worried. Watching him with wary eyes as he drew his bottom lip between his teeth again and again.

Justin just stared at him, he was filled with some emotion that he couldn’t even _begin_ to put a name to. Couldn’t even begin to understand. Love wasn’t supposed to hurt like this. He was so angry, so filled with the emotion that he was surprised that JC could remain sitting in the room with him. If he’d been JC he would have fled for higher ground immediately. Let him calm down.

“I…” he stopped staring at his oldest friend. The man that he’d thought would always be there for him, no questions asked. The one that was always supposed to _wait_ for him, regardless of how long it took to make the hard choices.

He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, then another and another. Wished fervently for candles or incense or something other than the smell of JC’s cologne and JC’s soap and JC himself.

He jumped when he felt the soft touch of JC’s fingers on his face, took another breath as JC’s fingers made their way down his neck, rubbing in small circles. Relaxing him bit by bit.

“Relax,” JC ordered softly. Justin laughed, trying to keep from sounding hysterical, kept his eyes closed because he certainly didn’t want to see JC looking at him with an expression of pity… or worse remorse.

JC’s hands dropped and Justin took one more deep breath before he made to step away. Before he found he couldn’t. JC’s hands were firmly on his hips, holding him in place in front of him. They could kiss now, they were as close… actually they were _closer_ than they had been the previous night when Britney had knocked on the door.

Britney wasn’t in the house… who would interrupt them this time?

“Tell me what’s wrong,” JC said quietly, “Did something happen with you and Cameron?” Justin’s eyes flew open and all he saw was gentle understanding in the blue eyes only inches from him.

“No… there is… no…” Justin winced, because now that he was prepared to say ‘there is no me and Cameron’ he found the words wouldn’t come. If JC was going to be with Britney, well Justin wasn’t giving up his safety net just yet.

Being alone sucked, especially if had to watch JC and Britney reenact a scene from The Happy Couple.

JC waited patiently while Justin drew another breath.

“Rings C?”

“It’s a gift,” JC said with a grin.

“A gift?!” Justin asked incredulously. “You were looking at fucking engagement rings!”

JC frowned at him, took a step back when Justin’s waving hands would have hit him, crossed his arms over his chest. Justin scowled when he saw the mulish expression settle onto his face.

“They had the stones that I liked… Britney’s been a really good friend lately…”

“So you’re looking at fucking engagement rings?! Buy her a damn bracelet, or a necklace, or I don’t know a fucking _clue_ …”

“Justin…” JC started a disapproving expression on his face, and Justin just knew that he was seconds away from a lecture on his language, followed by one on how people should be allowed to live their own lives free of persecution by friends and family.

He remembered it vividly from when JC had told them all that he was gay, not bi, _gay_. Which meant that he didn’t _like_ girls like that. And Britney had been there when it had all come out.

“She knows your gay C, she was fu…” Justin cut off, clearing his throat at JC’s pointed look. “Freaking there when we had the talk, remember?”

“Of course I do, and she’s been really great about, you know… everything… you know… me figuring things out and all…” Justin narrowed his eyes as JC trailed off weakly.

“This is crazy,” Justin decided.

“Justin?”

“I knew something was going on but now… I’m more sure of it than anything.”

“There’s nothing going on… you… you just have a suspicious mind.”

“And it’s served me damn well,” Justin stared at him thoughtfully, moved forward quickly he forced JC into the chair that he’d been sitting in. Hands braced on the arm rests, inches separating them he continued staring.

“I’m going to fix this,” he said decisively.

“Justin?” JC squirmed awkwardly in the chair; he barely had a chance to move back an inch before Justin descended on him, his lips moving in a hard kiss.

Punishing, claiming.

He knew it would have been better if JC had actually _responded_ but the older man seemed catatonic so it would have to do. Although his lips were really, really soft and Justin wouldn’t mind doing this for another fifty or so years as long as JC would participate every time forward.

This was Justin marking his territory. Reminding JC who he belonged to. Much easier than pissing on the lawn or a tree Justin decided. Also much less likely to have him arrested for indecent exposure.

He backed off as quickly as he’d moved in, smirking at the stunned expression on JC’s face. Drew a finger down the middle of JC’s face, rubbed a thumb over his lips and then backed away. Before JC could regain sanity and kick his ass.

“I’ll fix this,” he promised, then left.

******************************************************************************


	8. Has A Felony Committed By A Boyband

At first he thought he was dreaming.

Justin was leaning over his bed, touching his face, murmuring softly.

Over the years he’d had quite a few Justin dreams. Most of them taking place in his bedroom, sometimes on the tour bus, sometimes some nondescript hotel room. Most of the time they were naked, or close to naked. Sometimes they were having sex.

He realized that the dream (that he still thought he was dreaming) wasn’t one of those special Justin dreams that put the extra spring in his step when he heard the higher pitch of Chris’ voice, then the low murmur of Lance’s.

It was frustrating that after all this time that just a few short weeks of being pretty much held hostage in his own home had forced his subconscious to include them within his most personal dreams.

He was going to have to do something about that.

“C…” he felt the gentle tap of Justin’s fingers and forced bleary eyes open. So he wasn’t dreaming then?

His head hurt and his eyes insisted that there were three Justin’s. Which in one of his nice, sweet, slightly kinky but in a good way dreams might not be bad. But since this wasn’t a dream and Justin, Lance and Chris were obviously in his bedroom at some ungodly early hour this couldn’t be good...

Had he drank the night before? His brow wrinkled as he thought, he didn’t _remember_ drinking. He’d had a headache, Lance had made soup, forced aspirin down his throat and tucked him in bed.

“Told you,” JC blinked trying to force his eyes to focus, trying to force his mind to focus. Chris sounded agitated… and slightly worried? “Lance gave him too much…”

“I gave him two tablets just like the bottle said,” Lance’s voice was indignant, JC craned his head and saw two of the blond bass standing off to one side of the bed, a duffel bag at his feet.

Was he leaving? Maybe JC could convince him to take Chris. Although later he might have to say something about Lance using his luggage to pack… Lance had three different sets of luggage after all. All for different trip types, which seemed kind of stupid but for Lance it must have made sense.

“Yeah, its two tablets when he’s having trouble _sleeping_ … you know insomnia… He hasn’t been having any trouble sleeping,” Chris’ voice was matter of fact and JC wondered how he knew that. No one knew that but him… and his doctor.

And then suddenly the conversation that seemed as if it was taking place in a nice big hollow tunnel that didn’t really seem to contain him sank into his sleep-addled and obviously drug-addled mind. They’d given him his sleeping pills?

What the hell?! His friends, his _best_ friends were drugging him now? What had he ever done so horribly in a previous life that deserved this?

“JC I need you to wake up,” Justin was ignoring them as they squabbled at each other, the bed dipped and Justin was suddenly sitting next to him. Rubbing his cheeks as JC blinked up at him.

“’m wake…” he said very unconvincingly. It might have helped if he could keep his eyes open… or at the very least focus the damn things. They seemed to have a mind of their own.

“No you’re not,” Justin sounded amused… and was still rubbing his cheeks.

Tired,” JC muttered his eyes closing despite his best efforts to keep them open, he was getting tired of trying to figure out which Justin was the real one anyway.

“I know,” Justin said apologetically. “I’m sorry,” prying his eyes open into little slits JC saw him shoot an evil glare at Lance and wow… had Justin _learned_ that particular look from Lance? Because it seemed eerily familiar and JC could have sworn that he’d seen Lance shoot that particular look at all of them at one time or another.

Turning his attention back to JC he petted JC’s hair softly and gnawed on his bottom lip. “Maybe if the two of you _helped_ me…”

Two Chris’ sighed the sigh of someone long-suffering and moved to the other side of the bed while the blurred Lance’s dug through the duffel bag at his feet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.

JC tried to help them by sitting up but all his muscles insisted that this was a stupid idea and his time would be better served by staring at the ceiling contemplating the meaning of life.

Which is what he ended up doing.

The Chris’ helped the Justin’s sit him up, then the Chris’ supported him in the front while the Justin’s wrestled him into the sweatshirt. He was foggy on the details of how his jeans got on. One minute they weren’t there the next they were… he blinked… maybe the nine of them knew magic.

And he giggled to himself over the thought because suddenly he was picturing Justin and Chris and Lance in the robes from Hogwart’s, with ties and the little cone caps, wands at the ready. For their punishment for whatever they were up to he was so going to buy them all that shit and force them to wear it somewhere.

If nothing else their young teen fans would get a kick out of it.

“What?” JC mumbled leaning his shoulder forward on the Justin’s shoulders as the Chris’ tried to push his un-cooperating feet into shoes. Maybe he should tell them that he’d prefer his sandals? But no… he wasn’t going to make what it seemed was a kidnapping any easier than he’d already made it.

He was also going to insist on having a food taster from now on. As soon as he woke back up.

  


******************************************************************************

  
The three men stared down at the bed.

“So now what?” Chris bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. JC had once more fallen back asleep and for once he didn’t even waste the time glaring at Lance. He didn’t need to because Justin was already doing it for him. It was like tag-team glaring. Fun for the whole family.

“I guess we could carry him down to the car, he’s light enough,” Justin decided abruptly.

“ _You_ can carry him, he’s taller than me and I don’t care how light he is. We’ll end up in a pile at the bottom of the stairs and then where will your brilliant plan be,” Chris stated, ignoring Lance’s snort. Just because he agreed with him didn’t mean he wanted to face the wrath of Justin.

Justin’s wrath was a scary thing.

“If you’d just stop being a twit and tell him the truth we wouldn’t be risking our lives and our careers and fucking _jail_ time doing this,” Lance growled.

“I can’t… he’ll hate me.”

“And you think he’ll hate you _less_ for drugging him and kidnapping him?” Lance rolled his eyes. “You really are a natural blonde aren’t you?”

“Fuck you Bass.”

“No thanks… I’ll leave that chore for JC. That is if he still wants to, after you spend the next twenty years in prison for kidnapping. Do you even know… or _care_ how many laws we’re breaking right now?!”

“We’re helping him.”

“We’re kidnapping him… after having drugged him.”

“He’ll thank us for this one day, when he’s happy and sane and not trapped in a marriage with the evil bitch of the west.”

Lance snorted again, Justin ignored him.

“Joey could carry him down to the car with no problem,” Justin grumbled under his breath. “Where the hell is he anyway? I thought he’d be here for this.”

“You really think Joey would participate in this insane plan to kidnap JC until he gives up Britney and returns to his pre-newly-found-hetero-sexual ways?” Chris asked.

“Kelly wouldn’t let him out of the house,” Justin deciphered

“She said that she’d allow him to participate and screw up her wedding plans over her dead body. I guess Joe didn’t feel like taking her up on her offer,” Chris smirked.

“Plus you know he’s getting regular sex for once… probably didn’t want to lose that after everything else,” Lance shrugged.

“So I guess it’s up to the three of us,” Justin squared his shoulders, took a deep breath.

“The two of you,” Chris corrected. “I’ve got back problems and a bad knee, and you know I’m not supposed to lift anything over fifty pounds… I’ll carry the bag.”

“Wimp.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
JC woke to the feeling of motion. He lay still for a moment as the cobwebs cleared from his mind, blinking drowsily a few times as he thought.

The motion felt exactly like being on a bus, a tour bus to be exact… if he concentrated he thought he could hear the low murmurs of Justin and Chris playing video games, swearing a teach other.

Which couldn’t be of course, they weren’t on tour.

He stretched once, hoping that movement would help clear the confusion from his brain. He turned onto his side to look at the clock on his bedside table and almost fell out of the bunk he was ensconced in.

What the hell? He swore silently. Rubbed at his head in confusion.

He was just dreaming still, when he woke up he’d be sleeping in his own room. Wrapped in his own covers, hugging his pillow… and his friends wouldn’t have drugged him with his own sleeping pills.

He frowned at that thought.

Than his eyes narrowed and he noticed that he was indeed in a bunk, a bit nicer than the ones that they’d had on the *NSYNC buses but still a bunk. The noises that he heard were indeed the sound of Chris and Justin playing video games, plus the sound of Lance on his cell phone and music playing softly… probably so as to not wake him.

Too late, he growled to himself before flinging the curtain open.

He had to hold the bunk as he slid down off it, his knees not holding his weight as he crumpled onto the carpeted floor; he vaguely remembered Lance and Chris arguing about having given him to many pills. He was going to be feeling the after effects of those for a while.

He wondered if anyone would mind if he curled up in a ball right here on the floor. The carpet was really nice and soft, his vision was hazy again. Someone could throw a blanket over him when they walked past, maybe fetch his pillow from his bunk.

He could yell at Justin and the others later for kidnapping him.

“C,” Justin’s voice was soft, scolding and JC felt his strong arms lifting him. Instead of depositing him back in his bunk they moved him onto the couch. Soft hands stroked his hair lightly.

“Where are we?” JC mumbled, his eyes remained closed and he felt Justin’s hand stop in its rhythmic motions.

“We’re on tour,” Chris said brightly. “Except you know, when the bus stops Justin will be the only one performing. It’s like a vacation.”

“Hiatus,” JC corrected.

“Break,” was Lance’s input.

“We get to listen to all the little teenies scream for J… It’ll be like old times, only you know without us having to get out on stage with him,” Chris again.

Justin remained silent, his hand a heavy presence against JC’s head.

“You felt the need to drug me and drag me along so I could witness all of this?”

“Plus you know, it got you away from Britney. She’s a bad influence on you C. Making you think you’re friends and straight and all that,” Chris muttered.

“She is my friend.”

“She’s using you Jace,” Justin murmured into his ear, his breath sending shivers down JC’s spine. Justin was to close, his eyes boring into JC’s as if he could see his secrets, his soul.

“She’s my friend,” JC said softly. “She’s not doing anything that I didn’t ask her to do.”

“Really,” Justin’s voice was thick with his disbelief and JC closed his eyes against it.

“She never tried to drug me anyway; I should so call the police on your ass.”

“But you won’t,” Justin whispered against his cheek. “Because you know we’re helping you, you want us to help you.”

“Or maybe I’m just waiting until you let your guard down and I’ll just walk away.”

“Never happen C… you need us,” Justin kissed his cheek, a quick barely there peck. “Just like we need you.”

  


******************************************************************************


	9. Has A Boyband on Tour

He was going to have to kill them all. JC knew this now.

In fact he was so sure of this fact that he had tombstones and burial plots all ready in his mind.

He’d slept on and off for about three days and now that he was awake, well there was no way to hide the fact that he was being held prisoner and was to have no contact with the outside world.

He wondered if anyone had called Britney or his parents for ransom yet.

He really needed to talk to Britney. Because he was in way over his head with all this and Britney had some first hand knowledge of how to deal with Justin’s moments of insanity. But it seemed he was not being afforded the luxury of that… Britney’s name was never mentioned and if it was it was attached to a sneer or a scowl.

Depending on the context of which she had been addressed.

He was almost glad that Joey was no where to be found. The bus was full enough with just the five of them.

JC, Chris, Lance, Trace, Justin and Justin’s ill-conceived plans.

Everyone was getting along. Which in itself was strange enough and made him wonder when everyone had started doing heavy drugs or had been replaced by pod people.

Lance and Trace at least should have been bitterly sniping at one another. That was the norm… but it wasn’t happening.

It was a sure sign of the upcoming end of the world JC was sure.

He’d never understood the thin line of ill-concealed hatred that each felt for the other. If they weren’t so straight he’d think that they liked each other.

He’d come stumbling into the small area that split time being a living room and kitchen numerous times to find them both bent over Lance’s laptop. He’d had to cross himself because obviously something evil was under foot.

Despite feeling like it was one of the signs of the apocalypse he couldn’t help but watch curiously. It was like a car accident… you couldn’t help but try to see what had happened.

They’d just generally ignored him. And Justin as well… murmuring softly amongst themselves. Talking about payouts and rollovers and generally acting really strangely considering that in the entire time that JC had known them he’d never heard them have a civil conversation that consisted of more than pass the damn salt.

Besides that though everyone was acting as normal as they could considering that they had to say no to everything he asked. He’d considered asking one of them to help him cut his hair just to hear yes come from their lips… and that was in no way meant to be as test to make sure that those words could still be uttered.

But he hadn’t, because he really liked his hair the way it was. So did Justin, and actually so did Britney.

Justin was probably the one thing that was freaking JC out the most, and he was the main reason that JC wanted to talk to Britney. He didn’t know the normal protocol for kidnappings (having never actually been kidnapped before he was working with limited knowledge gained solely from the TV) but to his mind Justin was overly affectionate and attentive for a kidnapper.

There should have been threats of no food and chains, gags.

Instead he’d curl up next to JC on the couch, went out of his way to make sure that he was fed and warm. Even going so far as to steal a sandwich that Chris had made to feed him because he was ‘too damn skinny, we let you go outside you’re going to blow away’ and sending bodyguards to Wal-Mart for an extra blanket because he’d shivered once.

JC figured it was only a matter of time before Justin lured him into his bed at night.

Not that JC was planning on putting up much of a fight, Justin had the sole bed that could be called a bed and the bunks were damn uncomfortable.

He’d let himself fall asleep on the couch just because it was ten times softer than the bunk mattresses.

If they’d stayed in a hotel since this had begun it had been while he was asleep because since he’d been awake they’d been confined to the bus. Which kind of sucked because as much as he loved the guys, in a hotel, he could have at least escaped from the suffocating ‘friendship’ of the others.

He really needed to talk to Britney.

  


******************************************************************************

  
“I want a phone,” it was stated abruptly, firmly and in a way that both Lance and Chris would know that JC was deadly serious.

“Look, C…” Chris started, Lance having rolled his eyes and turned back to his laptop.

“Phone,” JC held out his hand, foot tapping on the floor. He waited as Chris and Lance exchanged a look, watched as Lance sighed.

“Give it to him,” he said, Chris scowled.

“Justin will kill us.”

“Justin’s not here, he won’t know unless someone tells him. You planning on telling him JC?”

“You give me a phone I not only won’t tell Justin that you gave it to me, I also won’t turn you into the cops when you do finally let me go.”

“That’s a good reason,” Chris sighed, dug his phone out of his pocket and tossed it to JC, who in turn grinned and walked back into the back of the bus. That had been much easier than he’d thought.

Maybe the others were getting just as tired of saying no as he was of hearing it.

“Justin is so going to kill us,” he could hear him muttering as he punched in Britney’s number, bouncing on his toes as it rang.

“’lo?” Britney’s voice was a welcome distraction from the quiet argument going on in the other room. Maybe if Lance and Chris argued long enough they wouldn’t try to eavesdrop on his conversation with Britney.

“Brit?”

“JC,” her voice was relieved and JC smiled. “Where the _hell_ are you? I went by the house and not only were you gone everyone _else_ was gone to. For a minute I thought I was in a horror movie and thought Justin’d gone insane and killed you all. I kept expecting to find little bits of you showing up in a box on my doorstep.”

“Well you’re not far off,” he muttered.

“What? Where are you?”

“Well…” JC dragged a hand through his hair as he thought. “Where’s Justin supposed to be performing on Saturday?”

Britney was silent on the other end for about 30 seconds before JC could make out her laughing.

“It’s not funny.”

“You’re with Justin? That was quick.”

“And Lance and Chris… Joey’s not here. And what do you _mean_ … ‘That was quick’?”

“Well come on, this is _Justin_ … the guy that after the whole Wade thing shaved his head, wrote ‘Cry Me A River’ and then filmed a video with a girl that he assured me in no _way, shape or form_ was meant to resemble me. You were expecting something I don’t know… sane?”

“Justin was in a lot of pain when he wrote that song.”

“You’re making excuses for him. Don’t do that, you’ll live longer,” Britney advised. “So they’re attempting another intervention…”

“Does it qualify as an intervention if they recycle the same speeches and force me to watch gay porn every waking minute?”

“Gay porn huh? No bondage yet? I think I’m slightly disappointed.”

“You’re supposed to be wholesome and pure… get your damn mind out of the gutter… and I think the gay porn is to remind me of what I’d be giving up if I married you. Or possibly to show Justin what he’d be giving up if he announced that he was gay… I’m not quite sure.”

“You told them already?”

“No… I was looking at the rings and they just sort of made the intuitive leap to marriage.”

“That’s a damn big leap.”

“So it might have been the ring catalog from this months Bride Magazine.”

“You’re a bad boy,” he could _hear_ Britney smirking. “So you want me to come break you out like a good, pretend fiancé? I can you know… for a hundred bucks and the chance to humiliate Justin Nick Carter would do just about anything.”

“I think you’d need more than just you and Nick Carter.”

“I could promise to be seen in public with Jared, he’d help.”

“I think I can muddle along on my own… but thanks for the offer,” JC flopped back on the bed. He might have to get Justin to switch with him, it was much more comfortable then the bunks. Or maybe Justin wouldn’t mind sharing.

“Not a problem… maybe I’ll look into some spy gadgets just for the hell of it, I saw this really cool watch, walkie-talkie thing on the Internet that was only like two hundred bucks…”

“Happy shopping… but if they keep me for more than a few weeks go out to lunch with Jared… just in case we need to use him later.”

“Maybe I should go commiserate with Cameron, you know since our boyfriends disappeared at the same time,” Britney said slyly. Closing his eyes JC could almost envision the mischievous look on her face.

“You just want to pump her for information to see if you’re right.”

“I _know_ I’m right. Justin and Cameron are _not_ together. I can feel it in my bones.”

“And your bones are never wrong?”

“They’re wrong about a lot, but not about this.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
Britney stared at the phone in her hand, brow wrinkled as she tried to determine exactly why she _wasn’t_ worried that all their plans were getting ready to fall apart in a grand, _huge_ way.

JC couldn’t lie to save his life and now he was being forced to live in close quarters with Justin. Not to mention Chris and Lance and most likely (since it was Justin after all) Trace.

“So how’s Jace?” the voice was quiet behind her and she turned slowly.

“He’s understandably a little upset.”

“Well being kidnapped will have that affect on people… plus having to spend so much time in an enclosed space with Justin and his ego...”

“Don’t make me regret telling you,” Britney warned.

She watched him roll his eyes and chuckle.

“You need help with this.”

“We were doing just fine,” she grumbles defensively. And they had been, granted the progress they’d been making was slow… like snail slow, they’d still been making progress.

The fact that Justin had absconded with JC in the middle of the night just proved her point.

“You were doing great,” he assured her with a grin. “You both were, but you know that Justin has about all this figured out, he knows that whatever’s going on JC was a willing participant.”

“He doesn’t know that…”

“Trust me, he knows… he may not _know_ that he knows, but he definitely knows.”

“So what? Eventually he’s going to figure it out anyway…”

“Yeah but you have to make him work for this… you guys are making it to damn easy. He wants JC and JC’s just rolling over and saying take me,” he spread his arms, his grin widening.

“He is not, JC’s been so good. Justin hasn’t even managed to get any further than a kiss.”

“True, he’s managed to hold Justin off a lot longer than I thought he would. But you’ve got to make him work for it. Don’t make it to easy for him. Timberlake’s got to many things that already come easy to him.”

“You know,” Britney cocked her head. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you actually liked Justin.”

He smiled enigmatically at her. “Don’t push your luck.”

  


******************************************************************************


	10. Has A Shopping Spree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short ficlet (or missing scene if you like) set between Every Good Plan… Has A First Date and Every Good Plan… Has An Intervention Staged By A Boyband

It was the leather pants that got the first response. Britney had licked her lips and made him spin twelve times while she got a _good_ look at them on him.

“I already have two pairs of leather pants,” he’d argued futilely.

“Not like these ones,” Britney winked at him. “One look at you in these and we’ll have to administer smelling salts to Justin.”

“They’re just leather,” JC twisted and turned in front of the mirror. Whatever Britney was seeing he was obviously the wrong sex to witness it.

“They’re leather that’s doing wonderful things for your ass…” Britney drew a finger along the waistband, as if she could judge the tightness just from that. “You won’t be able to wear any underwear. Maybe a thong…” she mused, her eyes glazing over as she thought.

“I have thongs already,” JC cut her off before she could name a store. With the luck that he’d had so far she’d want him to model them for her. And that would just be wrong.

“Spoilsport,” she gave a quick glance around and stuck her tongue out at him. One that he returned, ignoring that fact that it was childish and made them look an arguing couple.

“So what now?” he asked once the leather pants had been paid for (by Britney because he’d won that thousand bucks from her fair and square) and they were exiting the store.

“Shirts,” she said as she linked her fingers together with his. They were slowly getting comfortable with the handholding and the impromptu kisses. By the time Justin arrived they might actually be able to convince him that they were together.

“I have shirts.”

“Not shirts that you can wear with those,” Britney had obviously decided on their next stop, pulling him along as if he were a recalcitrant child.

“I’m pretty sure I can wear anything with those pants.”

“You need something tight, something that shows off your… attributes,” she smirked.

“I’m still pretty sure that I have plenty of shirts that do that.”

“Okay you need shirts that don’t say things like Rock Star or Porn King or something inane like that.”

“I don’t have any shirts that say Porn King.”

“Do you want one?” Britney smirked. “How about a shirt that wasn’t purchased from the women’s department then?”

“I have never in my life shopped in the women’s department,” JC said slightly miffed. “All my clothes were bought in the men’s department.”

“The _gay_ men’s department maybe,” Britney muttered under her breath as she continued to drag him along behind her.

“I think I’m offended on the behalf of my clothing.”

“Oh stop… ooh that’s pretty,” she made a quick detour. Dropping JC’s hand as she held a cute sundress up to her. “What do you think?”

“I don’t think it’s my color,” JC grinned.

“Not for you, for me.”

“We’re shopping for you now? I didn’t think we were done with me yet… oh that’s cool,” JC’s eyes widened as he flipped through the rack.

“’I don’t shop in the women’s department’,” Britney mumbled behind him.

“Shut up, I was talking about for you,” JC held it up to her, eyes narrowing as he studied it against her slight frame.

“It is pretty,” she admitted.

“As long as you don’t make us wear matching outfits _ever_ , we’ll take it out of the thousand.”

“That was once and Justin agreed to it.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
It was the pink dress shirt that put Britney over the edge. Especially since she could find absolutely no proof that they were in the wrong department.

Pink shirts in the men’s department… what man other than JC wore pink in public on purpose, because she had to admit that there were the ones that had to wear it because of some laundry mishap. But they obviously didn’t _buy_ their shirts like that.

Unlike JC who it appeared was secure enough in himself to do so.

“You are not buying them while I’m still here and breathing,” she finally announced the third time that she’d plucked them out of his hands and shoved them back on the rack.

“I won’t wear them with the leather pants I just…” JC tried to move around her and grab them again. But Britney was quick; she was a pro-shopper and boyfriend distracter and grabbed his hand firmly pulling him along behind her.

“They’re pink Jace,” she grumbled.

“I like pink…”

“You own _enough_ pink.”

“I’ll come back and get them on my own,” he warned her.

“Then at least I won’t be here to witness it.”

  


******************************************************************************


	11. Has Girl Talk & Boy Talk

Britney had to force herself to not fidget. Cameron was only fifteen minutes late and she’d promised to be there. But the possibility that Cameron had agreed just to use this opportunity to embarrass her publicly was running rampant through her mind.

She figured that she should be used to that by now. Over the last few years she’d had a lot of experience with it.

All those friends that she’d thought were both of theirs, when the break came they’d ended up being Justin’s.

She was so sure that she was being stood up that she had already gathered her bag and was thus shocked when Cameron appeared before her as if conjured out of thin air.

“Were you leaving?” she queried.

“You were late,” Britney shrugged, her appearance trying to be nonchalant as she studied the woman before her. For the life of her she couldn’t figure out exactly what Justin’s ‘type’ was. He went from blonde to brunette, to short to statuesque.

Female to male.

He made no sense.

“Got a phone call,” Cameron grinned wryly, one that Britney returned. Because the call had been from Justin most likely and she wondered if he was aware that JC had managed a call to her.

The waiter appeared suddenly and the next few minutes were filled with ordering their food. Two females, not a male in sight. They ordered what they wanted to eat instead of what they were supposed to.

“So…” Britney crossed her hands in front of her.

“I was kind of surprised that you called,” Cameron said unfolding, then refolding her napkin.

“I was kind of surprised that you were here… isn’t Justin on tour?” Britney countered. She smiled demurely at Cameron’s arched brow.

“Well, you know…” Cameron looked as if she were trying to formulate the correct response… privately Britney had sort of figured that she would have had one ready already. Or at least a stock answer that Justin had given her.

If Britney asks this, then this is what you should say in response.

“But I guess it might be kind of full on the bus… what with Justin and Lance and Chris and Trace and JC,” she smiled innocently at Cameron’s now narrowed eyes.

“How…?” Cameron’s eyes widened slightly in disbelief. “You’ve talked to JC.”

“Last night,” Britney shrugged. “I hope that Justin knows that he’s got meetings this next week, as well as a radio interview.”

“I’m sure he does,” Cameron muttered, Britney could feel her eyes boring holes. Probably trying to figure out what her angle was, why she didn’t seem to be upset at the fact that her boyfriend had been kidnapped and was even now being kept forcibly away from her. “He wouldn’t let JC miss anything important.”

“Hmm,” she smiled at the waiter as her salad was set before her.

“You knew this would happen,” Cameron stated quietly. Britney didn’t respond right away, the waiter was still hovering and it wouldn’t do for him to be given any insider information that he could sell to the tabloids the second he stepped away. So she waited, toying with her fork until he smiled, bowing slightly and stepped away.

Britney still moved in closer to the table, Cameron doing the same.

“I figured that they’d do something like this. I have to say I didn’t see them taking off with him in the middle of the night, or drugging him but…” she said quietly shrugging. “I guess jail time doesn’t worry Justin when he’s trying to get something that he wants.”

“They’re just trying to help him,” Cameron said. From the tone of her voice even she didn’t really believe that.

“Help him? Help him do what? Be what they want him to be, do what they want him to do?”

“Justin thinks you’re using him.”

“Justin’s insane, which I think given his actions in the last few days should have been perfectly obvious. Besides the fact that I would _never_ hurt JC,” Britney said somewhat surprised by her own vehemence.

“Justin…” Cameron started.

“You know,” Britney cut her off. “Justin has _no_ say in this, none at all. JC is an _adult_ , an adult that can make his own decisions and Justin and the others are treating him like a fucking child. Like he needs to be protected.”

“Maybe he does.”

“Not from me… maybe from Justin, but never from me.”

“Justin would never hurt him.”

“They just drugged and kidnapped him, forgive me if I don’t believe that Justin wouldn’t hurt him,” Britney muttered sarcastically.

“What’s your angle?” Cameron asked curiously. When Britney cocked her head to the side studying her quizzically she added, “I mean you seem to really care about JC, you let everything Justin said to you during the double just flow right off. If I didn’t know better, if I didn’t have Justin telling me that you most definitely _weren’t_ , well I’d think the two of you really _were_ dating.”

“Maybe we are.”

“Please,” Cameron snorted. “This is me that you’re talking to, not some reporter…”

“You know I said something similar to JC a few weeks back.”

“Look, you tell me what’s going on on your side, I’ll tell you what’s going on on my side… and I promise to not say a word to Justin…”

“You all are betting on this aren’t you,” Britney sighed, dropping her fork on her plate.

“How…”

“And it’s not that I don’t trust you… I just…”

“Don’t trust me,” Cameron finished. “What if I told you our side first?”

Britney leaned back in her chair and smiled widely. Because _this_ was the whole reason she’d scheduled this lunch. To find out what was going through Justin’s head from someone who was actually _in_ Justin’s head.

She really hadn’t thought she’d get anything useful. But someone had once told her that she had an honest face that invited confidence. She’d thought he was kidding, obviously he hadn’t been.

“Hit me with your best shot.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
JC paced the small hallway of the bus. Rolling his shoulders, steeling his nerve. Rubbing at his eyes because it was damn early but it seemed to be the only time that he’d stand a chance in hell of catching Justin alone.

He’d heard Justin leave the bus about an hour prior. JC figured that he was utilizing a gym or running, something to alleviate the stress of touring and having everyone together again.

There was a damn good reason why they hadn’t all five shared a bus on the last tour. Because Chris and Lance bickered like an old married couple. He would have thought it would have been Lance and Trace but the two of them were cordial, civil, polite. It was beginning to make his skin crawl.

He heard the door open and drew a deep breath, running through his speech in his head.

 _I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions._

Turning to face Justin his whole speech fled his mind at his first glimpse of a sweaty, panting Justin blotting his face and skin with a towel. He barely restrained the whimper that threatened to escape. That was just cruel.

“C…” Justin was out of breath, he’d probably been running, but his voice was still warm and cordial. “What are you doing up? It’s early yet,” his confusion showed on his face. JC was known for sleeping more hours than being awake.

“I wanted to talk to you…” JC stated his voice firm.

“Alright,” Justin still looked confused. “Can I shower first or…?” he waved his hands and JC nodded slowly.

It would probably be best for Justin to shower, to get rid of the little droplets of sweat that glistened on his skin.

JC would be less likely to tackle him and try licking them off at any rate.

  


******************************************************************************

  
It was the quickest shower that Justin had ever took. He was notorious for taking long showers and even longer baths. But the look on JC’s face had been strange and Justin figured that JC was getting ready to break his silence.

And after the phone call that he’d gotten from Cameron the night before it was about damn time. How Cameron had found that out had him seething, but luckily JC’d had no contact with Britney so the information that she’d exchanged for that tidbit had not been passed along to his oldest friend.

He never thought he’d be happy that JC was with him and not upset about that fact that JC seemed to be pissed at him. Of course JC had been mostly silent for the last 24 hours; he’d not expressed his anger or dissatisfaction with his friends’ actions as the others had become used to.

It was the calm before the storm, Justin and the others had been dealing with JC for long enough that they all knew that an explosion was imminent.

Justin had hoped that it would hold for another two weeks until the tour was over and they were safely back home. Now he could just hope that it could be diffused before JC killed them all.

He dressed in a rush, a pair of sweats and a tank top. In bare feet he walked back out in the living room, the curtains for all the bunks were pulled shut. The guys version of trying to give them privacy, he pulled the door shut to give them an added measure.

He had no doubt that Chris and Trace would have their ears pressed to it within seconds to hear what was going on.

“All clean,” he smiled as JC turned to face him. He flopped down on the couch, trying to affect a look of disinterest that he didn’t think he was pulling off. Not with the knowing look that was on JC’s face.

“So what’s up?” he asked brightly clearing his throat.

“How long were you planning on keeping me here?” JC crossed his arms over his chest.

“Um… well…”

“Because I’ve got some stuff coming up. Stuff that is important to my album and my career. I’ve got interviews, a photo shoot… I think I have a radio thing on Friday…”

“We’re just planning on keeping you here until you decide that marrying Britney is a stupid idea and return to normal… Lance should be locating the pod any time now.”

“At what point did I turn five Justin?”

“Excuse me?”

“When did it become determined that I couldn’t take care of myself? I mean last time I looked I was an adult, perfectly capable of figuring out what I wanted and needed. Besides that fact that what’s going on with Britney is my business. Not yours and it’s sure as hell not anyone else’s.”

“C we’re just trying to protect you.”

“From what? From having fun, from having a fucking life?!” JC’s voice rose slightly as he hissed, his arms dropping down to his side. Justin hadn’t seen JC angry in a long time, to long and he wondered if JC stored up all his anger and bitterness to let loose when it just couldn’t be contained any longer.

“JC…”

“You moved on with your life, you have a great girlfriend that’s conspicuously absent but she seems to really care about you for some insane reason.”

“Cameron and I…” Justin drew a deep breath, pausing.

“What?” JC asked with narrowed eyes.

“We’re not together like that?”

“You’re not together like what?”

“At all… we’re not together… we’re just friends.”

“You’re not together?” JC said dumbly. “I don’t understand; the magazines…”

Justin stared down at the couch. At the ugly fabric that he ran his fingers along. “She’s looking at doing this movie you know; she’s been with us to watch ‘tina. People just assumed that because we spent some time together that we were… you know… together…”

“You lied…” JC drew a deep breath. “Do you have any idea what the hell you’ve done?”

“I didn’t lie exactly because no one ever really _asked_ if Cameron and I were together… they just sort of assumed that we were because we spent some time together…”

“Oh my god…” JC rubbed at his forehead. “You never said anything Justin, you just let us believe… this is messed up J.”

“But I’m telling you now,” Justin said. “Better late then never right?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Look… I know that you’re only with Britney because of all that press about me and Cam…”

“What…? Why would you think…?” the shock on JC’s face would have been hilarious if it wasn’t coming on the heels of the sinking pit in his stomach.

“It doesn’t matter… but you need to know that there is _no_ me and Cameron, so now you can just get rid of Britney and things can go back to the way they were. You know just us,” Justin smiled. “Like old times.”

“Like old times,” JC stared down at him, arms crossing over his chest. Justin flinched slightly as those eyes stared at him. For the first time in his entire life he couldn’t read what was going on in JC’s head. “Just like that… you want to go back to the way things were before.”

“JC…”

“Maybe I don’t _want_ things to go back to they way there were before,” JC’s voice and expression was tired. As if this had all been some battle that he was continuously losing. “You know I don’t think I want to have this discussion with you right now,” he dragged a hand through his hair. “I have a photo shoot tomorrow morning at ten. I’ll need to be on a plane tonight in order to make it in time plus get some sleep.”

“Jace…”

“You’ll let me know when you’ve got the tickets,” JC’s tone brooked no argument and Justin nodded stiffly, staring down at the carpet.

It was plain, boring… just like his life was going to be from now on.

He felt the soft press of JC’s lips his forehead and then the other man was gone.

Life sucked.

  


******************************************************************************

  
“So JC’s coming home,” Britney gasped, biting back a scream as the voice surprised her. With a flick of her wrist the lights came on and she scowled.

He lounged negligently on her bed as if he belonged there. She didn’t even _want_ to know how he’d gotten into her house in the first place.

She knew that the alarm had been set when she left that morning because she’d done it herself.

“Dammit don’t do that,” she scowled dumping her bags on the floor as she walked into the room. “And not that I’m not overjoyed to see you but how the hell did you get in here?”

“Birthdays, your sisters and yours… you should really have made it more difficult,” he waved his hand in the air.

She pushed at his feet until they were off the bed and sat on the corner.

“JC’s coming home?”

“Yeah… I didn’t even get a chance to talk to him about what I found out from Cameron, so that means that Justin did something to send him running.”

“Or he remembered where he left his spine.”

“The message that he left for me? He was hyperventilating… I’ll be really surprised if he doesn’t have a stroke from the stress of all this.”

“So he doesn’t know that you spilled your guts to Cameron?”

“I didn’t _spill_ anything. I have way more restraint than that, and I didn’t confirm anything that Cameron hadn’t already guessed; she doesn’t know that it’s all a ruse. She thinks that it’s a form of retaliation because of Justin dating her.”

“But Justin’s not dating her.”

“No… but whatever happened went down _before_ JC called me freaking out…”

“He’ll come home, you’ll get him calmed down and then we’ll need to plan our next step.”

“That means telling JC that you’re in on this… you spend _any_ amount of time with JC and Justin’ll have a cow… and know that something’s up.”

“You just leave that all up to me.”

“You’ve got a plan?”

“I’ve _always_ got a plan… I’ll share once JC’s here.”

“Why do I not have a good feeling about this,” Britney sighed pushing herself off the bed. Moving across the room she started picking up the bags that she’d dropped.

“Because you’re a pessimist by nature, think positive for once.”

“I’ll try… I still don’t have a good feeling about this though.”

  


******************************************************************************


	12. Has A Regrouping of Allies

It had been an insanely long day. He’d thought after his pronouncement that Justin would have the ticket ready to go immediately and have him ushered out as soon as possible.

He should have known better than to figure Justin would do things that way he wanted him to. Justin had waited until the last possible moment to put him on a plane, probably hoping against hope that he’d change his mind. When he hadn’t Justin had handed over the plane ticket, all the while JC had refused to make eye contact, because he knew if he did that he’d stay. His personal commitments be damned.

He’d instead stared at where their fingers brushed together at the ticket hand over.

“I’ll be home in two weeks,” Justin had said softly. A gentle reminder.

JC had just nodded, he knew that. He practically had Justin’s itinerary for the next six months memorized, if he forgot any detail it was printed out in its entirety at home. Britney had wanted to be prepared for all contingencies.

“We’ll… talk… when I come home?” the break in Justin’s voice was the only reason that JC had looked up and made eye contact, the only thing that could have _made_ him look up.

Justin’s voice wavering.

He could do it on purpose, JC _knew_ that. He’d been _witness_ to it enough, more when Justin had been young and wanted to get his own way then recently. As he’d grown up he’d grown out of it, had instead used the pout and if that didn’t work his considerable charm.

And JC was only human and definitely wasn’t immune to any of that.

He waited to see the act, he was pretty much the only one with the exception of Lynn that could determine when Justin was faking it and when it was real. And this was real.

He could plainly see the fear in Justin’s eyes. That this was it, that by forcing his hand he’d messed everything up. Whatever could have been between them, *NSYNC, everything.

JC really needed to talk to Britney, to figure out exactly what he was going to do. He would need to come clean, would need to tell Justin about the plan… or at least tell him something.

He was so far over his head, and he was not used to dealing with this Justin.

This Justin that wanted him and was doing nothing to hide it.

“When you come home,” he nodded once. His expression didn’t change, at least he didn’t think it did.

He reached out with the hand not clutching his ticket like a life line and squeezed Justin’s. Hoping that the small movement would serve to reassure the younger singer. The fear was easily replaced with hope, a small smile and JC turned away.

It was time to go.

  


******************************************************************************

  
The bouncing on his bed woke him up. He kicked out with one foot, connecting with someone’s body and his eyes flew open when he heard the familiar squeal and then a thud as someone landed on the floor.

“Brit?” his voice was tired, he’d gotten maybe three hours of sleep after the delay in his second layover, but he still leaned up. Peering over the side of the bed at the sight of the woman sitting on the floor scowling.

“You kicked me out of bed,” she said with what JC and his sleep-addled mind could not believe was disbelief.

He snorted. “Like you’ve never been kicked out of somebody’s bed before.” The gasp made him run the words through his head again and he winced.

“I’ve only had like three hours sleep,” he said defensively. “I’m a little cranky… sorry.”

“You are so lucky that I like you,” Britney muttered, accepting his apology with a toss of her hair. She shoved herself to her feet, lying down on the bed next to him instead. The bed was infinitely more comfortable than the floor, he’d fallen asleep in both places numerous times so he could honestly say and think that.

The sides of their bodies touching as JC relaxed back and they both stared at the ceiling.

“You have to like me, we’re getting married after all.”

“I don’t have to like you to marry you. I could be a gold-digger and not care either way.”

“If you were a gold-digger you’d be better off finding somebody in their seventies ready to keel over the minute you flash him some cleavage.”

“You trying to compare me to Anna Nicole?” Britney scowled slightly. “Because if you are I’m throwing down.”

JC glanced down her body before resuming his staring at the ceiling, smirking to himself. “Nah… you’d have to put on some weight and become just a tad bit more self-involved.”

“Someone’s feeling snarky today,” she observed with a grin.

“Three hours sleep, you’re lucky I’m not pulling a gun on you.”

“Do you even own a gun?”

“So _not_ the point Britney… Three hours…” he said with a hint of a whine.

She rolled onto her side, cuddling close as she rested her head on his shoulder. Squirming to get comfortable against him as his arm moved to circle her shoulders. Looking every bit like the picture perfect couple that they were playing.

Justin would freak out _and_ have a litter of kittens before he had a heart attack and died if he could see them.

“So tell mama Britney all about it.”

“They drugged me and kidnapped me and treated me like I was five,” JC muttered petulantly. His voice was still a little whiney, and he needed about at _least_ another two hours sleep else he was going to be no good at the photo shoot.

She patted his stomach, rubbing it slightly before letting it rest gently there.

“But…”

“But what sweetie?” she asked encouragingly.

“He was really sweet…”

“He refused to let you use a phone,” she reminded him.

“Well you know…” he tilted his head so he could see her. “He doesn’t like you very much.”

“Really?” Britney gasped in mock horror. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“I lied to him again,” JC mused quietly, closing his eyes.

“And he believed you? Lance better watch out. You’re getting to be more devious than he is.”

He snorted softly. “No one will _ever_ surpass Lance in deviousness… and if someone does then Lance’ll just kill them and be right back on top in no time flat.”

“So what did you lie about?”

“He was all honest with me, you know about that fact that him and Cameron _aren’t_ together… and I didn’t even tell him the truth about us. He thinks that we’re dating _because_ of him and Cameron.”

“Dating as a form of retaliation,” he felt her nod against his shoulder.

“ _Why_ does he think that we’re dating as a… ‘form of retaliation’?”

“I may have had lunch with Cameron a few days ago and led her to believe that to be the case,” Britney mumbled in a rush against his shoulder.

“You had lunch with Cameron?”

“Yep… and we’re both still alive. I was gonna call and tell you what had happened but you didn’t have phone privileges so…” she shrugged and JC sighed, rolling onto his side. Scooting down the bed slightly he rested his head near her shoulder on the pillow, his breath tickling the skin of her arm as he stilled. One arm rested over her stomach and he knew that she could still feel the tension in his body.

“JC?”

“I still love him,” he mumbled softly. “Even after… all that shit he just did. It’s like I can’t help myself, like he’s some drug that I can’t purge from my system. It’s not fair.”

“He’s the same way you know,” her voice was soft, she reminded him in some ways of how Joey was, when one of them needed comfort or held Joey was always there.

“What do you mean?” JC fought back the yawn. He was tired and relaxing. It was nice lying next to someone who didn’t expect something.

“Do you think he gets this crazy for just anyone? He has to love someone an awful lot to go to the extremes that he just went through to keep you away from me.”

“Maybe if he knew…”

“Knew what sweetie?” Britney pressed a kiss to his forehead, raising a hand to run it at what had to be an awkward angle for her down the side of his face. He tilted his head up, making it easier for her.

He liked to be petted.

“Knew that you were actually helping him, not trying to hurt him… maybe if he knew that he’d be a little nicer… a little more forgiving.”

“I think it’ll take a lot more than me helping him get what he’s always wanted for Justin to forgive me for what I did to him with Wade.”

“Hmm,” JC hummed noncommittally he tightened his arm then relaxed.

“Go to sleep C… I’ll wake you up in time for the shoot,” she murmured into his hair. “Lance’ll probably be here tomorrow to keep an eye on things until Justin comes home.”

“Not Lance,” he said drowsily, eyes closing as he snuggled closer. “Probably Chris.”

“Lance’ll want to get away from Trace by then. I’m surprised that they’ve put up with each other this long, normally they’re ready to kill each other about thirty seconds after being in the same room.”

“Not anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lance and Trace… they’re kind of like… fucking I guess.”

He could feel the shock as her body stiffened, then the sharp bark of laughter. “What?”

  


******************************************************************************

  
He hated doing photo shoots alone; JC didn’t know how the others did it.

Justin always seemed to love them, preening whenever he got asked to do one that the others weren’t included in.

Being the focus of all that attention, with none of the other four to take some of the pressure off of him… he’d clung to Joey when he’d shown up to offer moral support.

He’d definitely begged him to never, _ever_ leave. Joey had laughed, patted him on the back. Pissed off the hairdressers by ruffling his hair then shoved him back in the direction of the waiting photographers.

Britney had already been hiding in one of the spare rooms when Joey had arrived; she’d done that after the third time one of the assistants wandered to close and mentioned that the two of them were so pretty together and that the pictures would be beautiful. She had frowned in JC’s direction, he’d shrugged, they’d taken a picture or five and then she’d bolted.

It was supposed to be JC’s shoot after all, not a couple one and he knew that she didn’t want anyone saying that she was using him to further her own career.

Joey had smiled at her when she’d finally emerged at the end. Linking hands with JC she’d grinned back at him. JC was just glad that at least one of his friends wasn’t actively plotting Britney’s demise.

Instead he’d ruffled JC’s hair again, hugged him tightly, invited them over for dinner and then when they’d agreed he’d left telling them to not be late.

It seemed as if Joey and Kelly were to be his babysitters until Chris could get into town. Lance wouldn’t be back until Justin and Trace were. And shit…

“Did I really tell you that Lance and Trace are sleeping together?”

“I wasn’t going to say anything but…” she glanced up at him as they left the building together. “Lance and Trace? Are you kidding me?”

“No… And you can’t tell anyone,” JC said sternly.

She rolled her eyes. “Who the hell would I tell? I mean if it were you and Justin the National Enquirer would pay big bucks for the pictures but… half the free world has already assumed you all are gay anyway.”

“Well yeah but…”

“And are you _sure_?” when JC nodded she sighed. “I guess that’s one way to get them over their animosity.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lance and Trace _hate_ each other… I mean they’re like another version of me and Justin… Only I guess they’re having sex to resolve their differences.”

“You’re _not_ sleeping with Justin just so the two of you can stand being in a room together again.”

“Sweetie I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway… there’s no way it can last.”

“Why not?” Britney asked curiously.

“Because eventually they’re going to get tired of only seeing each other naked and go back to trying to kill each other.”

“Well how long have they’ve been… you knowing? Maybe we’ve got some times.”

“It’s fairly new,” JC scowled. “They’re still in that ‘all sex, is good sex, especially if its sort of in front of our friends’ place.”

“Oh,” Britney nodded. “I guess you got an eyeful?”

“You don’t _even_ know… I thought they were trying to kill each other… and then I realized that they were naked and well…”

“You poor baby,” she rubbed his back lightly. “Let me take you home and you can scour your eyes with a brillo pad to get rid of the remnants.”

“I tried that already. It didn’t work.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
Britney had been trying to figure out how to broach the subject for the entire length of the thirty minute drive. He was supposed to be waiting for them back at JC’s house and she didn’t want JC to walk in and be totally shocked when she saw him.

She knew that they talked periodically; saw each other at events but he kept his friendship low key because there were still very few things that would send Justin off the deep end and he was one of them.

Britney was never sure why and both men were notoriously close-mouthed about everything concerning each other.

“Why are you fidgeting?” JC finally rolled his eyes in her direction as she flung out her arm and stopped him from entering his own house.

“Hypothetically…” she shifted on her feet, eyes downcast as she searched for the right words. “If someone had approached me and offered their assistance in this little plot we’ve got going on and I accepted… how mad would you be?” she peered up at him.

“Hypothetically?” he arched a brow at her and she nodded. “Has this person in any way hindered our plan?”

“Well no, Justin kidnapped you before I could tell you.”

“Uh-uh… who is this person and why are you telling me this now?”

“Well… he’s waiting inside for us and I didn’t want you to pass out from the shock.”

“He’s in my house? Alone? How did…” JC shoved the front door open, Britney trailing along behind him.

“Don’t ask me how he does it,” Britney held up a hand. “He just does…”

She stopped talking when JC stopped moving, JC stopped moving because he was staring in disbelief at the man settled on the couch in his living room like he owned it.

“Holy fuck,” JC swore under his breath and Britney touched his back lightly.

His hair was wild around his face, he was smirking that knowing, ‘king of the world’ smirk that Britney had seen time and again over the last few days and sometimes wanted to smack off his face.

He was infuriating and smug and she really wanted to hate him. But she couldn’t. Because he was helping and over the last few days when JC had been incommunicado he’d come up with some damn good ideas that she couldn’t wait to implement.

She also really wanted to know why he was going out of his way to _help_ Justin when the last she knew they couldn’t even be in the same room together.

When he’d first approached her offering assistance she’d had to sit down, the shock had done that to her, she’d been almost positive that someone had slipped her something and she was actually unconscious. It had taken her about ten seconds to realize that she was stone-cold sober and another half a second to realize that if he was doing this to help anybody he was doing it to help JC, as far as he was concerned Justin could rot in hell.

Everyone loved JC; it seemed at times that it was almost physically impossible to not adore him on some level.

“Love the furniture JC… its comfortable as hell, I had a nap while I was waiting… after this is all done I really need to know where you got it,” Nick Carter grinned at them.

  


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	13. Has Dinner With The Fatone’s

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Britney fidgeted on the doorstep next to him. JC rolled his eyes again. She’d asked the same question four times since they’d left his house. He’d answered the same way each time so he really didn’t think she required yet _another_ response.

“Are you sure it was a good idea leaving Nick Carter _alone,_ in my house?” he shot back. The safe was secure, the studio was locked (the only key dangling from the key ring in his pocket), most valuables were too heavy to be carted off in the short time they’d be gone.

But the phone was still there and god if Justin tried to call and Nick answered it, which somehow JC knew he would. Justin and Nick hated each other and the only thing that kept them from killing each other was that it wouldn’t be very good publicity.

Although he wouldn’t have put it past them to have several scenarios set up that would _look_ accidental and be anything but just in case an opening arose.

He knew that both had put considerable effort into figuring out new and distressing ways to annoy each other, it would be nothing for Nick to pick up the phone and say ‘hi Justin, JC’s not available at the moment, can I take a message?’ At least Justin still had Chris, Lance and Trace with him to keep him from reaching through the phone and killing the Boy.

“You wanted to be able to talk to him when we got back.”

“I also wanted to have, you know, _belongings_ when I got back as well.”

“I think if Nick wanted to steal anything from your house he would have already done so,” Britney’s nose wrinkled. “I mean it seems that the guy can walk through fucking walls so your puny little alarm system isn’t going to keep him out.”

And there was that. He still wasn’t sure _how_ exactly Nick had gotten in. Even as absentminded as he knew he could be he _knew_ , without a doubt that he’d set the alarm before he and Britney had left for the photo shoot.

The alarm system that only he and the guys and his parents and Britney knew the security code for… and he was pretty damn sure that none of them would have voluntarily given them up to Nick Carter of all people.

Except Britney had been working with Nick in the time he’d been gone and maybe…

The door being flung open saved him from having to buy Britney something expensive, because somehow he knew that the retort on the tip of his tongue would not be taken in the manner that he probably would have intended it.

She could be so sensitive sometimes.

“Joey,” Kelly grinned down at them as she yelled over her shoulder. “They’re here.”

Joey appeared behind her as she ushered them in. She hugged JC tightly before allowing him to pass, smiled down at Britney at she closed the door.

“They just got here,” Joey was saying into the phone pressed to his ear. _Lance_ he mouthed as JC watched him curiously.

“Why don’t you help Joey destroy the kitchen,” Kelly said touching his back lightly and pushing both men towards the room in question. “I’m going to show Britney the wedding plans… maybe it’ll give her some ideas.”

“I don’t think…” Britney started at the same time as JC’s, “I think we were planning on hiring somebody to do it.”

Britney stared at him with wide eyes as JC tried his best to look guileless and innocent. He wasn’t doing a very good job if Kelly’s narrowed eyes were any indication.

“Pish,” she frowned. “Every girl wants to plan their own wedding… you’re not letting him pick out the ring are you?” she asked as she tightened her grip on Britney’s arm, dragging her away. “JC has got the most atrocious taste in jewelry; you’ll end up with something resembling costume jewelry… I’ve got this number for this guy that designs stuff… he did our set...”

Britney shot one last desperate look over her shoulder as they turned the corner and JC bit back a grin just catching Joey rolling his eyes out of the corner of his.

Joey snapped his phone shut with a grimace and JC did grin then.

“You look remarkably relaxed, please tell me that I don’t have to assign someone to have Britney killed before the wedding… I mean Lance is out of town and I could do it but I don’t think Kell wouldn’t understand the jail thing,” Joey commented as he led JC into the kitchen.

“You just saw me two hours ago,” JC reminded him.

“Yeah, okay… plus you don’t have your after-sex face on so if you did it couldn’t have been that good,” Joey mumbled absently as he grabbed a pot holder and leaned down to open the oven and check on whatever was baking within its confines.

“I have an ‘after-sex’ face?” JC asked with mild amusement.

Joey’s back stiffened slightly before he straightened and he winced. “Well you know… not that I keep track of when you do or don’t… I mean… it’s just… Justin…” he dragged a hand through his hair in frustration.

“It’s okay Joey,” JC patted him lightly on the arm. “And you don’t need to worry about the sex thing yet…” he smirked as Joey breathed an audible sigh of relief. “Brit and I are saving ourselves for our wedding night.”

They probably heard the scream _over_ the sound of Justin’s concert.

  


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Britney kept one eye trained on the door. If she saw an opening she was going for it.

With the other eye she was looking at the pictures and magazines that Kelly was haphazardly throwing in her direction.

“Don’t lose any of the stickies,” Kelly advised.

Britney rolled her eyes. She would so rather be in the kitchen with JC and Joey; at least Joey would just glare and mentally kill her. Chris had trained him very well.

Kelly was trying to either drive her insane or get her to hire her as their wedding coordinator, Britney couldn’t decide.

“So I’ve been meaning to talk to you…” Kelly started and Britney turned her full attention towards her. No good conversation had ever begun with those words.

Justin had actually used those exact words right before he told her that Wade had told him everything and that they were done.

He’d been really calm about it over the phone… although she remembered JC having said that they’d had to lock him up because he’d been just a tad upset about her betrayal. She idly wondered why Justin hadn’t made his move on JC then.

“About…” Britney flipped frantically through the closest magazine, trying to look like a model bride-to-be.

“I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how you got JC to go along with this… I mean it’s like the biggest prank ever and while JC wouldn’t have been my first choice but he seems to be doing well with his role.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Britney didn’t meet her eyes, just flipped through the magazine idly. She really liked the dress on page 112, if she and JC did have to make the walk down the aisle in order to prod Justin into further action she wanted that dress.

“Oh please…” a glance up showed Kelly rolling her eyes a smirk on her face. “The guys are pretty much a total lost cause, at this point JC could tell them the _truth_ and they’d think he was lying to them… and have you been working on the lying thing with him? Because he’s gotten damn good.”

“Uh…”

“I think I’ve got most of it figured out…”

“Okay…”

“I just can’t figure out what you’re going to gain from this… I mean if it works JC will finally get Justin… but what are you getting out of this?”

“Kelly…”

“You don’t have to tell me anything… I understand that you want to keep everything close to the vest, especially with all the bets flying around…”

“Bets?” Britney narrowed her eyes. Finally something she could actually comment on.

“Yeah… you know the bets,” Kelly cocked her head as she thought. “It’s all divided into categories and subcategories… Lance set up this really elaborate database to make it easier for Trace to manage…”

“Lance and Trace…” Britney rubbed her forehead. “I should have known; and what kind of categories are we talking about?”

“Well there’s how long before Justin manages to break you up… so far no ones won that one yet, I personally put two grand on him popping up at your wedding and saying I object…” Kelly grinned at her conspiratorially. “So if you know… want to give a helping hand I’ll split the money with you…”

“What else?”

“Well there’s also whether JC will actually end up with Justin if he manages to break you up, whether he stays with you despite Justin’s best efforts. Whether you’ll actually get married and if you do how long it’ll take Lance to have the annulment ready… you know… normal stuff.”

“Why does everyone think we’re playacting here?”

“Because we know JC… the guys may be distracted by… well… you… but for those of us that are actually _looking_ at the situation with, you know _eyes_ , we all know you’re Justin’s ex and that JC had to deal with him after the Wade thing, and probably the only person that didn’t know about Justin’s crush was JC, of course Justin could have shown up naked in his hotel room and he would have thought it was about you, boy can be damn oblivious some times…”

“How did you know about…?”

“Please…” Kelly snorted. “Justin may think he’s playing it cool but he’s damn obvious.”

“Obvious?”

“Yeah… Cameron and I’ve had a few conversations on it, actually talked about it in front of Joe and he just doesn’t get it.”

“You’ve talked about this with Cameron? Justin’s Cameron?” Britney asked in disbelief.

“Well I wanted to make sure that what I was actually seeing, was what was actually happening. Don’t worry…” Kelly rushed to assure her. “Cameron thinks that you guys are dating because Justin’s dating her… I didn’t you know, correct her… There is money at stake after all.”

The scream startled them and both women jumped slightly. Kelly pressing a hand to her chest as Britney tried to scrape her heart off the ceiling.

“What the?”

“Joey’s been a little high-strung since I wouldn’t let him help with the kidnapping.”

  


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“So…” Joey leaned back against the counter.

JC’d had to find a paper bag for him to breathe into. He’d seriously considered calling an ambulance since Joey looked about a step from death and Kelly would kill him if he screwed up the wedding plans.

Although maybe she had a scenario mapped out just in case Joey keeled over… he wouldn’t put it past her.

Joey had waved him away, insisting he was okay right before he brought out the hard liquor.

He might quite possibly be drunk soon, or already. He hoped that Britney would be able to figure out how to drive his car… because he didn’t think he was driving anywhere.

JC picked at a stray fabric on his shirt. Had he spilled something on himself? He tried to remember what he’d eaten during the day as he rubbed at the stain, then he realized that it was part of the design of the shirt.

Someone had designed the shirt to look like ketchup had been dropped on it. Interesting.

“Lance and Trace?”

JC’s head popped up, “Huh?”

“That’s what I thought,” Joey sighed miserably. “How the hell did that happen?”

“Um… I’m not sure?” JC’s brow wrinkled. “They were working on some computer thing… or maybe the raging hatred just got to them finally.”

“So they decided to use sex to fix all their problems?”

“You know you’re getting married,” JC reminded him.

“Uh-uh.”

“Plus you know… you decided that you were straight… and doesn’t Lance have a right to move on with his life? To be happy for a change.”

“You think Trace can make Lance happy?”

“Well no,” JC frowned. “But if it wasn’t Trace it would be someone else… and that’s probably not making you feel any better is it?”

“Not really…” Joey muttered under his breath. “It’s just… Lance and Trace? Now I’m going to have to be on the look-out for a plague of locusts or something and Kelly hates it when things distract me from the wedding plans.”

  


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	14. Has Conversations in Bed

JC was dreaming that he was surfing. That in itself wasn’t unusual. He didn’t dream so much about surfing any more but every so often he’d have one; not recently though, recently his dreams had been decidedly not for family viewing.

But years before, when he’d been a teen-ager he’d dreamt it all the time. Dreamed of crystal blue water and perfect waves and no responsibility.

This dream was different then his normal surfing dreams. One because he couldn’t _see_ the waves, he could only feel them and it was disconcerting because normally this dream was calming and instead it was making him decidedly nauseas.

He really hoped that the waste can was right by the bed where Britney had left it before Nick had taken her home.

“JC,” he slapped at the direction of the voice. Familiar in its high-pitched snarking quality. “JC, wake up,” the voice sing-songed and he felt the warmth of a body pressed against his own.

Forcing one bleary open he focused, saw Chris grinning maniacally down at him and let it close again.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” he announced. Abruptly the swaying motion of the bed (which Chris had been supplying by bouncing) ceased and when he managed to open an eye again he saw Chris staring down at him with a worried expression.

Probably wondering how badly Justin was going to punish him for letting JC drink. Even though he hadn’t even been in the state last night when JC had been getting drunk.

It was all semantics where Justin was concerned.

“You do look kind of green…” Chris observed.

“Joey’s liquor cabinet attacked me,” JC mumbled pitifully, he dragged a pillow over his face. Maybe if he tried really hard he could smother himself.

“That’s right you and Brit,” JC lowered the pillow so only his eyes showed, looking at Chris with a curious expression because he hadn’t thought that Britney’s name sounded synonymous with evil devil bitch but somehow Chris had managed to pull it off. “You guys were over at Joey and Kelly’s last night… did Britney run screaming when Kelly pulled out the million bridal magazines?”

“She found the wedding dress that she wants.”

Silence from Chris and JC was glad that most of his face was covered with the pillow. That way Chris couldn’t see his grin.

All these years of telling Chris to be quiet and calm down and the way that he’d finally managed to do it was to announce his engagement to Justin’s ex.

If he’d known it would be that easy he would have done it years ago… although not with Britney because Justin had still been with her but he could have found someone else that Justin thought he needed protecting from.

There was always Nick Carter.

Justin had always tried to keep him more than fifty feet him at all times… and someday he was going to figure out where the rift had come from. He could vaguely remember Justin and Nick being friends in Europe.

Maybe when all this was over Justin would tell him.

“A dress… you’ve got to be _fucking_ kidding me.”

JC smirked. Britney had stopped on the way back to his house to pick up the magazine, all the time talking about bridesmaids’ dresses and a hair style that would look really cool.

JC had felt bad reminding her that this was all for show and a wedding would _not_ be taking place, but he’d been drunk, slightly nauseated and had just wanted her to be quiet.

“If I promise to not bounce the bed do you promise not to yack on me?” Chris asked suddenly.

“I promise nothing,” JC mumbled.

That was obviously good enough for Chris because seconds later he was snuggling up to JC, tussling with him for control of the pillow over JC’s face. He shoved it under his head as JC laid an arm over his eyes.

“Are you trying to drive Justin insane?”

“What?” he pulled the arm down to peer at Chris in confusion.

“Because you are… and if you really go through with this wedding we’ll be visiting Justin in a padded cell.”

“I think you’re exaggerating a little.”

“I’m really not, what with Lance and Trace and their _thing_ whose shoulder do you think Justin spent the last day and a half crying on?”

“Um… yours?”

“Bing, bing,” Chris grinned at him patting him lightly on the stomach. “And I notice that you pointedly did _not_ comment on my Lance, Trace thing.”

JC looked away; as good as he’d gotten lately at the evading a point blank direct comment still took him a second to get ready for.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Hah!” Chris snorted. “I walked _in_ on them… It was traumatizing as hell. I’m thinking of suing Lance for mental anguish as well as forwarding all my psychiatrist bills to him. Justin’s thinking about having the whole bus fumigated as well as scheduling an exorcism when the tours done… you know just in case.”

“Maybe they like each other,” JC said unconvincingly. “Besides at least they’re not fighting anymore.”

“Oh they’re still fighting. Now it’s just punctuated by periods of ‘oh god, harder, harder’. Lance is a lot louder than I remember him being, are we sure he was getting laid before?”

“Pretty sure, either that or he was watching a lot of porn that sounded exactly like him.”

  


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Britney knew she wasn’t alone before she opened her eyes.

“I know you’re not sleeping,” Nick’s voice was amused and Britney mentally checked that she was indeed still dressed.

No sex had taken place the night before… thank god… that would be really hard to explain to JC.

“’m awake,” she mumbled burrowing into her pillow.

“Right,” Nick said with no small amount of disbelief. “I’d believe that more if you could actually open your eyes and carry on a conversation.”

“I can carry on a conversation without opening my eyes. I’m multi-talented you know,” Britney muttered. Mutinously she kept her eyes closed, then cracked one just so she could see the smirking face next to her.

“Why are you in my bed?”

“Because you wouldn’t show me where the guestrooms were last night… and your couch is too damn uncomfortable, thought I was going to break something. You should have JC help you pick out a new one before the break up.”

“You could have gone to a hotel.”

“You know with this sort of hospitality I just can’t see why you don’t have more guests.”

“I have plenty of guests… most of them just have their own homes within a five mile radius.”

“Well I don’t…”

“You have a hotel room.”

“Actually, to be technical, no I don’t. I was staying with AJ, but I got tired of sleeping with my headphones on so that he could have some semblance of privacy, so here I am.”

“I thought AJ split up with…” she mentally snapped her fingers. “I thought AJ was single,” she finally said.

“He is… but that doesn’t mean that he stopped having sex. AJ is the king of pickups and one night stands.”

“So you’re learning at the knee of the master.”

“If I had a sex life I’d say yes… but unfortunately I don’t so…”

“Oh, you poor baby, if you wait just a second I can call JC and we’ll throw you a party,” Britney said sarcastically.

“You know celibacy doesn’t seem to be having any sort of adverse affect on you…” Nick turned on his side. “I would have thought that being engaged to the gay man that’s in love with your ex that you’d be a bit more bitchier than normal. But you seem perfectly okay with it all.”

“Well its not like I didn’t know about it,” Britney rolled her eyes. “Who do you think the first person that Justin admitted to his crush was?”

Nick blinked at her, Britney stared at him and Nick smiled smugly.

“You’re _kidding_ right?” Britney grumbled.

“I think we were like fifteen or something… quiet hotel room, bottle of vodka that Joey snuck to us and a game of truth or dare,” Nick glanced over at her, Britney ignored him staring at the ceiling.

“I’m surprised that you didn’t announce it to the world when the two of you decided to hate each other.”

“Don’t think I didn’t think about it. But I like JC, Joey’s not that bad, and Howie would kill me if I did something bad to Chris so I kept my mouth shut.”

“You want a medal? What about Lance?”

Nick snorted. “Kevin doesn’t like Lance.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
“Justin…” Trace’s voice was soft and Justin turned on his side away from him.

“Shouldn’t you be licking Lance’s toes or something?” Justin asked snarkily. He heard the door shut and then the bed dipped as Trace sat on the edge.

“Lance has ticklish toes; he won’t let me lick them.”

“I really didn’t need to know that.”

“Are you okay?” Trace settled on his side next to him.

“I’m fine, hunky dory, just wonderful.”

“Justin…” There was distance between them on the bed while he waited for Justin’s posture to relax. Then with a heavily released breath Justin deflated and Trace pulled him close. Holding him as his body shook with the force of his tears. Trace could feel his anguish and heart ache and he wanted to cry to.

Instead he offered solace, he made soothing noises, rubbing his best friends hip gently, offering comfort even though he knew that for Justin there was really no comfort to be had.

“If he marries her… I don’t know what I’ll do if he goes through with it,” Trace didn’t need to look at Justin’s face to know that his face was red and blotchy from crying.

Some people could cry beautifully, tears streaming down their face but no emotion. Justin cried like his heart and soul were dying, every emotion plainly seen and shown.

Trace couldn’t remember the last time that Justin had cried like this, he thought it might have been when Britney had cheated on him but he hadn’t been witness to it.

JC had been witness to it. But now JC was part of the problem.

“He’s not going to marry her,” Trace said matter-of-factly. He didn’t know how anyone could doubt that Justin would be victorious in the end. Trace would play dirty to make sure that Justin and JC ended up together.

And if with some fucking weird twist of luck Britney managed to pull off the wedding Lance was all ready with necessary paperwork to make that marriage disappear.

He imagined that if Lance put his mind to it that he could actually make Britney disappear. Lance’s ability to do shit like that might actually have made him nervous if he wasn’t currently sleeping with him.

But he had no doubt that if things ended badly with him that it might take all of Justin’s abilities to talk Lance down to keep Trace from vanishing to wherever Lance banished people that pissed him off.

He wondered if Lance had a deserted island for strictly that purpose. The Island of People That Pissed Lance Off.

Maybe he’d make a sign for Lance to hang there.

He bit back the laugh but wasn’t fully successful since Justin twisted his head to look at him curiously with red, swollen eyes.

“Does my pain amuse you?” Justin asked with no heat, which was a true sign of how upset he really was.

“Just thinking of something that I need to tell Lance later.”

Justin scowled. “Whatever the two of you’ve got going on should be confined to the privacy of one of your rooms… and you can’t think about sex with each other while in the same room as me… and the bathrooms off limits to, because you know what. I have to use that room to and that’s just not cool.”

“You know what; I thought you’d be all happy and supportive that I’m seeing someone.”

“You and Lance are _seeing_ each other?!” Justin’s voice rose and Trace backed away slowly as Justin turned to face him. “I thought this was some ‘we’re stuck on the same bus and we’re better off fucking each other than trying to kill each other’ thing. Don’t even tell me that the two of you are in a _relationship_!”

“It’s not really a relationship, it’s more of a, we’ll see what happens as long as we don’t kill each other thing.”

“Trace, buddy, pal… that’s a fucking relationship.”

“Oh… hmm,” Trace’s brow wrinkled. “Don’t tell Lance… he still thinks it’s a ‘we’ll see what happens as long as we don’t kill each other’ thing, if he thinks it’s the other thing he’ll start acting all weird and be expecting me to buy him like flowers and candy and shit… and no matter how good he is in bed that just ain’t gonna happen.”

  


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	15. Has The Return of JRT

He’d been expected for about two hours, JC knew that his house would be one of the first places that Justin came to when he returned home.

He’d been meditating when Justin arrived, trying to find the right words to keep Justin from flipping out and tearing his heart out when he told him the truth.

About a million scenarios had been gone through and each and every one had Justin killing him in some way. And hating him forever.

Britney didn’t know that the moment of truth was imminent. From the way that Nick had visibly scrutinized every word that left his mouth (plus the ones that hadn’t) and his body language the night before he knew that Nick was aware that the end was near.

He didn’t want to tell the truth just yet, because it would mean telling the _whole_ truth. He’d have to tell Justin about the Plan, and about why Britney and he had come up with the Plan.

And since Justin hadn’t admitted to anything but wanting things to go back to the way they were, he certainly had not admitted to having any secret yen for JC, the Plan wasn’t even working out the way that JC wanted it to.

But he was tired of lying to everyone.

He was tired of listening to his father spout off all the good reasons for marrying Britney, not the least of which was the fact that he could have grandchildren.

He was tired of listening to Chris talk about the pain that Justin was in.

And he was tired of calling Justin and hearing the rough voice that was tangible proof that Justin was spending most of his free time crying… keeping the Plan going and continuing the charade was just bordering on cruel.

The miniscule joy that he felt at having pulled something over on the others was dimmed by the fact that Justin was _hurting_.

He never heard him enter the room, just felt his presence mere milliseconds before, “Hey C.”

He opened his eyes, turning his neck to look at the man standing in the doorway.

“You’re back,” he stated quietly, inwardly wincing because of course he was _back_. That was the reason that he was standing in JC’s doorway hesitantly.

“Yeah,” Justin said softly. “If I’m interrupting…” he started, cutting off when JC shook his head.

“I was just…” he waved a hand as Justin came into the room, stopping in front of him. “You know trying to clear my head.”

“Did it work?” Justin squatted, studying his form. “Maybe I should try it…” he laughed harshly, rubbing at his head.

“Justin…” he started, licking his suddenly dryer than the Sahara Desert lips and wondered why this was so hard. This was Justin… this was his best friend and the one person that he’d been able to talk about almost anything with. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Yeah,” Justin sighed. “I wanted to talk to you too.”

They stared at each other for a minute, neither saying a word, the silence thick between them.

“I’ll go first,” JC took a deep breath, preparing himself. Justin was going to hate him forever. For not only lying to him, but for using Britney in his plans knowing how Justin felt about her.

“No let me…” Justin interrupted. “I just… I’ve been thinking a lot over the last week,” he began, his voice wavering slightly.

“Justin…”

“Let me finish this… please… because I don’t think I can do it if I have to wait any longer,” JC nodded slowly, letting him continue. “I just want you to be happy you know, that’s all I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy and I thought…” Justin laughed harshly. “Well I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought anymore… I just… if this is what you want, if you want to be with… her… you know, actually marry her… well I’ll stand by you, stand up for you at the wedding, whatever you need, I’ll you know… be there for you…”

The moment of truth, JC closed his eyes, drew a deep breath and re-opening them stared directly into Justin’s.

“There’s not going to be a wedding,” he said it firmly so there was no room for mistake, no going back. “Britney and I aren’t together.”

  


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Justin gawked at him.

Sure for about a second that he hadn’t heard that right. Pinched his leg discreetly to make sure he wasn’t dreaming in his car.

He ran it through his mind again, then suddenly a million birds start singing in his ears, the chorus of ‘ding dong the witch is dead’, with a side chorus of ‘Hallelujah’ and he crazily wondered if doing cartwheels around the room would mean that he was laughing in the face of whatever pain JC might be going through.

Because he wasn’t.

He just barely kept the grin off his face. “Did…” he cleared his throat, wondering idly why JC was staring at him so intently. “Did something happen? She didn’t cheat on you did she?” he asked with alarm.

JC shook his head. “It wasn’t like that.”

“If she hurt you C you need to tell us,” _that way we can have her killed_ , Justin wondered if the others would finally let him do it.

He was sure Lance knew some people, of course that was all dependent on whether or not they could drag him away from Trace’s dick long enough to get that information.

“She didn’t hurt me…” JC coughed lightly. “We’re… uh… friends.”

“Friends,” Justin repeated dumbly. “Look JC, I know that you think that you can still be friends with the people that you break up with… but all that shit that went down with Bobbie should have taught you that just because you think that you all are friends doesn’t mean that you are still friends.”

“No I mean… I mean that Britney and I are _only_ friends,” JC’s eyes bored into his and they begged him to understand something that Justin didn’t think he really wanted to understand.

Regardless of what the many tabloids and newspapers had said about him he was _not_ a dumb blonde, he might affect that persona at times to get his way but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t 100% aware of what was going on around him at all times.

 _“… Britney and I are **only** friends.”_

When his eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed twice JC had the grace to look away.

“You…” he sputtered shoving himself to his feet. “You and Britney aren’t…”

JC gracefully unwound himself and stood before him shaking his head.

“You lied to us,” Justin hissed.

“Technically I didn’t,” JC said softly.

“You said you were dating Britney.”

“I never said that… you all just assumed…”

“We assumed because… hell C…” Justin ran a hand along his head, scowling. Because dammit he was right. JC had never once said that he was dating Britney.

 _“She’s an attractive young woman, enough times passed that it doesn’t look to strange and we’re both a little lonely. She’s good company…”_

 _“They had the stones that I liked… Britney’s been a really good friend lately…”_

 _“She’s my friend… She’s not doing anything that I didn’t ask her to do.”_

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Justin swore ignoring JC’s pointed look, people that didn’t tell their best friends that they weren’t in fact dating their friends ex’s didn’t get an apology for swearing. “You should have…”

“What? Told you the truth? Pot meet my friend Mr. Kettle,” JC growled.

“Excuse me?”

“I did exactly what you did Justin, I posed for a couple of pictures, smiled a few times, no one ever asked me if I was dating her, you all _said_ that I was dating her and that you’d save me from her.”

“I told you the truth.”

“Yeah you did,” JC said softly. “And then you said that if I ‘broke up’ with Britney that we could go back to the way things were before…”

“So?”

“Maybe I didn’t _like_ the way things were before Justin,” JC pulled a hand through his hair, stared at his fingernails for a minute and wondered what the soonest he could get in for a manicure would be. “Maybe I wasn’t _happy_ with the way things were.”

“What are you talking about C? If you weren’t happy you should have said something, we could have done something. Whatever you needed, you didn’t need to take things this far,” Justin was trying to be reasonable, he really was.

The fact that he wanted to kill his best friend not withstanding.

JC stared at him like he was the most clueless person on the face of the planet. He hated that look because it meant that JC thought he didn’t understand and he did.

At least he thought he did.

JC wasn’t happy… but you know what, Justin wasn’t happy anymore either so welcome to the fucking club.

“I’ve loved you for almost half my life Justin, and I’ve had to sit by and watch you with Britney and Jenna and Alyssa and Janet all the time wondering what they could offer you that I couldn’t, with the exception of the whole them being girls thing. I couldn’t stand by and watch you start over, yet again with Cameron.”

“You’re blaming this on me?!” Justin asked incredulously. “This is so _not_ my fault; I did everything I could but get down on my hands and knees and _beg_ you to get rid of Britney.”

“So we could go back to the way things were?! You know what?! The way things were? That way is no longer acceptable.”

“You don’t get to decide what’s acceptable and not acceptable anymore JC, you don’t get to ride some pity party train because you love me… because you know what? I loved you to and the only person that couldn’t see it was you.”

“Justin…”

“You know what? I think we’re done here,” Justin announced, his posture rigid and unforgiving. “I need to go and punch something and if I stay here any longer it’s going to be you.”

“Justin.”

And with one final glare he turned on his heel, and left.

  


******************************************************************************

  
They found him sitting in the middle of his studio, door wide open eyes blank and unseeing.

They exchanged looks before Britney dropped down next to him, touching JC’s hand lightly.

“JC,” her voice was soft and gentle. Justin had come back that morning; they’d stayed away because they knew that Justin would most likely make his first stop JC’s home. “Sweetie what’s happened?”

“It’s over,” JC’s voice was rough and scratchy; Nick touched his chin, tilting his head up. JC had been crying. “He knows.”

“You told him,” Nick said quietly. Not a question, a statement of fact. He’d known when he’d left the night before that JC was going to tell Justin the truth.

Obviously it hadn’t gone well, hence Justin no longer there and JC crying alone in his studio.

“He hates me,” JC said decisively. “It was all for nothing because he hates me and there’s no way that once the others find out that they aren’t going to hate me to.”

“JC,” Britney said calmly, drawing his attention. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No its not,” JC shook his head, closing his eyes. “He wanted to hit me, he left because he was so angry that he wanted to _hit_ me.”

Nick looked at Britney who looked like she wanted to cry and JC who was about a second from crying again and sighed.

“So what do we do now?” Britney asked softly, Nick watched as she linked her fingers with JC’s, squeezing tightly. “How do we fix this?”

“We do nothing,” Nick shook his head. “Timberlake needs to calm down, JC needs to relax… we don’t do anything.”

“But…” Britney started with wide eyes.

“We can’t do anything Britney,” JC agreed with him, he didn’t smile but for the first time since they’d entered the room his expression lightened a bit. “Everything’s up to Justin now, if he still wants me after all of… this… well he’ll need to make the first move.”

“And you think he’ll choose you?” Britney asked.

“Probably not,” JC shook his head a pained smile crossing his face. “And honestly if I were in his shoes I wouldn’t pick me…”

“JC…”

“I lied to him, I lied to his _face_ and I grinned and laughed because he was playing right into my hands, all I could think about was how much I wanted him. I don’t think I ever even thought that I’d have to tell him about the Plan someday, it didn’t even cross my mind that he might not take it the way that I wanted him to.”

“You just wanted him,” Nick said gently.

“Yeah and The Plan… that pretty much made sure that I was never going to get him. I’m such an idiot.” JC laughed bitterly, Britney squeezed his hand again and Nick watched as he swiped angrily at the tears falling from his eyes. “I don’t know why I’m so upset; I’m not the injured party here.”

“You thought you were going to get something you wanted.”

“I… don’t know what I thought… but hey… at least I don’t have to worry about getting caught in a lie any more.”

  


******************************************************************************


	16. Has The Release of A Solo CD

“This is fucking ridiculous,” Justin grumbled, he slammed the front door for good measure. Just in case anyone that was actually in the house was under the misconception that he’d had a _good_ day.

It had been four months since that day in JC’s studio. He’d been so infuriated, so _angry_ at JC. At Britney. He’d been mad at everyone and everything and had felt totally justified in his anger.

He’d lashed out, not just at JC but at everyone. It was surprising that he even still had friends after some of his outbursts.

But as angry as he’d been he’d never wanted JC to actually go away. He’d figured that once he calmed down (and he knew he would, he always did, except with Britney and Wade but he didn’t think that anyone had actually _expected_ him to calm down about that so…) they’d need to talk. And then there’d be some kissing, declarations of love, possibly some sex after a suitable time had passed, and eventually the argument over whose house they’d be living in.

It was hard do that with someone that you couldn’t find.

He’d talked to JC’s voicemail but somehow he didn’t think those messages were getting through… because JC had never called him back.

“No JC?” Chris asked from where he was flipping through a magazine on the couch. Chris had seemingly moved out of JC’s house and into his. Justin would almost rather he still be at JC’s, at least then they’d know where the hell he was.

Justin was quite literally at the end of his rope. He’d voiced that thought exactly once.

Chris had told him to get a longer rope.

“Someone’s been to the house…” Justin kicked Chris legs out of the way and fell down on the couch next to him, sprawling in the available space. If he hadn’t lived with it for years he would never have thought that a small guy like Chris could take up so much space. “But I don’t think it was JC.”

“You know I didn’t think it was possible for someone that lived in the public eye to just vanish,” Chris mused. “I would have thought at the very least the teenies would have figured out where he was hiding.”

“You’ve been checking out those damn message boards again haven’t you?” Lance frowned.

“Hey they know a lot more than we give them credit for,” Chris said defensively.

“And how is that again?” Joey asked with raised eyebrows, fingers wrapped around a beer bottle as he stared at Chris. Waiting expectantly for the answer that they all knew.

“I only posted once,” Chris flushed, then buried his face in his magazine again. “And they already knew it anyway so I don’t see why everyone keeps harping about it… you want to yell at someone yell at Justin, he’s the one that lost JC.”

“I didn’t lose anybody… he’s just… not there.”

“Which is exactly what you wanted right? You wanted JC to stay away and now that JC’s obliging you don’t want that anymore.”

“I wanted that four _months_ ago Chris, and I only wanted him to stay away until I calmed down, you know so I wouldn’t kill him and make us a quartet when we finally talked. I’m ready to talk now. You know… move on to the making up portion of the fight.”

“You’re just horny,” Chris said flippantly.

“And maybe JC’s not ready,” Lance shrugged.

“What do you know?” Justin asked with narrowed eyes, ignoring Chris and focusing on Lance. He leaned forward abruptly, because Lance knew where JC was. He had to know because Lance knew where everything was, he knew where Justin’s keys that he’d lost six months ago had been. And that would have been scary if it hadn’t been Lance. They really needed to get him on television or something. “You know where he is don’t you?”

Lance held up a hand to stop the onslaught of questions and shook his head. “I have absolutely no clue where JC is, but I _do_ know where he’s going to be in four days though.”

“Where?” Justin asked suspiciously. “And don’t tell me another party, because I’m absolutely, positively _not_ going to another party where everyone in attendance is going to be making sure I have absolutely no contact with him.”

“You know I didn’t think it was possible for two members of the same band to be at the same party, at the same exact time and not set eyes on each other once,” Joey grinned.

“I saw him,” Justin muttered. “I think. If that damn kid from O-Town hadn’t been worshipping the ground I walked on I would have had him to.”

“In fact,” Joey continued as if Justin hadn’t even spoken. “If I’d had to put money down, I would have thought that it would have been damn near impossible for JC to stay away this long in the first place.”

“Not when he vanished the day after the People spread, you know the one with Justin and Cameron making out on that beach in Hawaii,” Chris reminded him.

“We were _not_ making out.”

“So you were just checking to make sure she still had her tonsils?” Joey asked brightly. Taking a swig of his beer to avoid the Timberlake glare of death.

“I was making a point.”

“You were trying to hurt JC and possibly Cameron although I’m not sure why since she _is_ on your side and everything,” Lance smiled.

“I was not trying to hurt JC and Cameron knew exactly what was going on,” Justin snarled. “Besides I tried to call and explain what happened but he’d disappeared already.”

“Is that when you called Britney to find out where he was and she called you an asshole and hung up on you?”

“She didn’t call me an asshole,” Justin muttered. “She laughed hysterically, said she’d tell me where JC was when hell froze over and then hung up on me.”

“I think it’s hilarious that you had to call your ex-girlfriend to find out where one of your best friends is,” Joey grinned.

“You know that once JC’s speaking to him again he’s going to nip that friendship right in the bud… although it would make great press.”

“Are you two just about done? Because in case you’ve forgotten we’re supposed to go back into the studio in oh about two months and it’ll be really hard to record with one our most prominent band members missing in fucking action.”

“You know your language has gotten really bad since JC’s been gone,” Chris observed. “When he comes back he’s going to be pissed.”

“Yeah well he’s not _here_ now is he? He’s probably not even in the fucking state.”

The two men glared at one another, eyes still locked together in a silent battle of wills that Lance ultimately broke when he cleared his throat.

“They’ve all got a point,” Lance smirked. “But I know of exactly one place where it’ll be damn hard for JC to avoid anyone.”

“Where?”

Lance waved an envelope in the air. “His release party… you want the opportunity to talk to JC… we can probably get you exactly one chance. Just make sure you don’t blow it, I’d like to still have a job when it’s all said and done.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
JC was not proud of the fact that he was hiding. It had started out as just giving Justin space, and had somehow turned into the hiding about the time that Justin and Cameron had showed up on the cover of People, locking lips on some picture perfect beach.

He’d wanted to throw up.

Instead he’d kissed Nick. Nick had been a good friend; he hadn’t hauled off and smacked him like JC had thought he would. He’d just let JC draw back, touched his cheek and whispered, “I’m not Justin,” and then JC had burst into tears and cried for three days.

He thought that Nick might have wished that he hadn’t said a word.

Although he’d felt better for the crying, he just wished that there hadn’t been witnesses.

The realization that whatever was going on between Justin and Cameron had not been romantic had come at a party where both JC and Justin had been among the guests.

JC hadn’t known he’d be there; he’d actually been convinced that Justin would avoid any party that JC would most likely be at like the plague. He’d never imagined that Justin would have been seeking out that very opportunity.

So to say he’d been a little surprised by the fact that Justin was coming towards him with that determined ‘I want to see you naked’ look that JC’d only seen when he chased after some particularly attractive woman, well that would have been understatement. JC had been so shocked that he’d squeaked in a very undignified manner.

Nick had taken it all in, had smirked, muttered “it’s about damn time he got off his ass and did something,” and had been about a half a second away from waving him over before he’d seen the distress on JC’s face and sighed.

So instead of reuniting the two members of *NSYNC with an avid audience it had taken the combined efforts of Nick, AJ, Christina (who’d laughed hysterically) and one of the boys from O-Town to keep the two men apart until Nick could get the limo back.

Justin may have been ready to do whatever but JC wasn’t. He needed a few more days, or months, possibly even years to steel himself for whatever this rollercoaster was going to be with Justin.

Besides the fact that he thought everyone was insane. He was almost 90% sure that Justin was going to corner him and tell he wanted his best friend back… although that didn’t explain the determined ‘I want to see you naked’ look that he’d had on his face at that party.

The party tonight would be the first time that he wouldn’t be able to avoid Justin, he’d most likely have to take at least one picture with him and make small talk.

He really hoped that he didn’t bring Cameron.

“You aren’t wearing those pants are you?” Nick asked from the doorway.

JC glanced down at the garment in question and then back at Nick.

“What’s wrong with these pants?”

“Nothing other than the fact that you at least want to make it through the party, you wear those Justin’s going to abscond with you to a private room so he can peel them off with his teeth.”

“Justin is straight and what is it with you guys and leather? Britney licks her lips whenever she sees me in it and Justin tried to kiss me the last time I wore it around him.”

“If you don’t see it than I can’t explain it… just think about Justin in leather,” Nick wandered in, picked through the clothes lying on the bed and then sat down in the middle of the pile. “Now stop thinking about Justin in leather.”

“I uh…” JC cleared his throat, twisted the pants in his hand. “Justin’s straight,” he said again.

“If Justin’s straight then I’m the Pope.”

“You don’t look like the Pope,” JC cocked his head to one side. “Although if I squint…”

“I’m glad to see that you’re in good sprits,” Nick grinned. “Just don’t burst into hysterical tears when Justin tries to talk to you and we’ll be good.”

“I’m fine,” JC eyed the pants and shrugged, he was wearing what he wanted to wear. Besides when he’d talked to Britney that afternoon she’d told him to wear leather and he didn’t think she had been talking about a jacket. “I meditated this afternoon, had a nap… I’m good.”

“You’re good until you’re actually in the same room with him… and then you turn into a thirteen year old girl with a broken heart.”

“I don’t turn into a thirteen year old girl,” JC scowled. “And I think that you all are insane.”

“We may be… but if you wear those pants tonight,” Nick nodded at the pants in question. “I guarantee that someone’s going to end up naked. And it’ll probably be you.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
Justin fidgeted nervously; Joey had already taken away his champagne glass muttering something under his breath about not wanting to explain why Justin had broken it.

Chris was hovering; Lance was very discreetly holding Trace’s hand and bodyguards flanked them.

“Relax,” Chris ordered. “You have a heart attack before you even see him and this is all for naught.”

Justin rolled his shoulders, trying to follow orders. Entirely unsuccessful at it.

They hadn’t seen him yet, because JC had been surprising punctual, entirely unlike his usual self and had already arrived by the time that they had. Johnny had patted them on the back, reminded them, with a strange look at Justin, to be on their best behavior and scurried off to locate him.

“And look it’s *NSYNC,” Justin scowled at the familiar voice, his back stiffening slightly. What the _hell_ was Nick Carter doing there?

He turned around and stopped short, because JC was standing _right there_.

With Nick Carter.

What the fuck?

Hand on his arm as he whispered in his ear.

Nick smiled as he drew back and Justin’s eyes narrowed, because that was a genuine smile and he knew Nick well enough that only Nick’s family, both biological and Backstreet were the only ones that made him smile like that.

“I’ll get us something to drink,” Nick looked at JC sternly and squeezed his shoulder before walking away.

“You guys came,” JC smiled softly, he looked at everyone but Justin, instead studying his shoes.

He wondered if anyone felt the undercurrent of tension besides him.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world C, you know that,” Joey stepped up to bat first, a hard hug that lifted JC off his feet causing a giggle to escape him and JC’s posture to relax. Justin hadn’t even realized that he hadn’t been relaxed. “We’re so proud of you.”

“Yeah well,” JC shrugged. “It’s done and finished, and I like it so… did you guys talk to Johnny, I gave him a bunch of stuff for you to look at.”

“We can talk about that tomorrow,” Lance let go of Trace and moved forward. “Tonight’s your night not ours.”

Chris moved up to him the same time Lance did and the three wrapped up in a hug. They drew apart at the same time and Lance reached for Joey and Chris for Justin and suddenly it was like those sacred few seconds before their concerts.

The group hug and suddenly it didn’t feel awkward anymore. It felt like old times, like they were family and friends and everything to one another.

Justin just knew that someone was taking a picture of it.

They drew away slowly, arms still locked around one another. Their own private world of five. It didn’t matter at that moment that Trace was standing to one side watching them with a small smile or that Nick had returned with a tray of seven champagne glasses.

All that really mattered, in that one second, was that when he looked up and his eyes met JC’s that they were both smiling.

Perfect understanding. _Later_ , JC mouthed, Justin nodded and JC grinned, before turning away with a laugh. Ruffling Joey’s hair and hugging Chris tightly.

  


******************************************************************************

  
“Is this where you’ve been hiding?” JC jumped at the sound of Justin’s voice and turned quickly to where the other male was standing in the door.

“I haven’t been hiding,” he said immediately, Justin rolled his eyes and sauntered into the room.

“You’ve been hiding,” Justin said softly stopping in front of him. They stared at each other. “You’re wearing leather.”

JC looked down at himself in confusion. “I like these pants.”

“So do I,” Justin smirked. “So…”

“So…” JC echoed with a soft smile.

“I guess we should talk?” Justin sat down next to him on the bed. JC studying him from the corner of his eyes.

“Yeah…”

  


******************************************************************************


	17. Has Payouts of Bets

Justin was really beginning to wonder if everyone had moved in with him and he was just simply the last person to know. It seemed at least likely that Chris had moved in, he never left, at all. Like he was afraid if he did that the locks and alarm code would be changed and he’d never get back in.

Trace had already lived with him so he was not an unexpected fixture, but since Trace was seemingly trying the dating thing with Lance… well now Lance was there all the time and that mean that Joey was present most of the time as well.

The only person who he wouldn’t have _minded_ living with him, who was very obviously not living with him would have been JC.

Because they were taking things slow, hence no living together.

This also meant that they weren’t having sex. They’d made out, they held hands… they did all sorts of coupley stuff in public that kept Johnny in a perpetual state of heart attack.

But no sex.

All this meant that when he bounced into the house after having breakfast with JC, the first thing he saw was Lance and Trace bent over a laptop, Joey watching whatever they were doing while alternately flipping through a magazine and Chris eating a slice of pizza with one hand and holding a can of soda with the other.

He stopped just inside the room. “Don’t you all have homes?”

“I live here,” Trace mumbled without looking up.

Joey eyed him critically before sighing. “No sex yet huh… I can’t believe C’s holding you off.”

Justin scowled, because he still didn’t know how the hell Joey did that. “We’re taking things slow, dating, getting to know each other,” he stated haughtily, “and contrary to popular belief we can control our hormones.”

“You guys have known each other for over ten years, how much better do you need to know each other before you do the deed?”

“Where is C anyway?” Chris finally interjected. Probably to save Joey from being smacked upside the head. And the smack wouldn’t come because Justin didn’t agree with him, he so did… it was just he was sort of tense and not exactly sure how much longer he could be all noble and leave JC’s at the end of their dates with just a kiss, his body sure as hell didn’t understand.

There was a cute, sexy boyfriend that kept him in state of perpetual hardness and he was still jerking off.

That wasn’t right.

“I thought he was off today,” Lance added, not bothering to look up from whatever he and Trace were working on. Justin figured it was either his schedule for world domination or a spreadsheet. Trace got turned on by Excel, he wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen Trace dragging Lance out of the room.

“He is…” Justin scowled. “He’s having lunch with Britney.”

If he could change anything Justin thought, he’d change _that_. It was just unnatural and wrong on so many levels. He kept expecting pigs to start flying or an announcement that hell _had_ indeed frozen over… story at eleven.

The fact that Britney seemed to adore JC and vice versa annoyed him on so many levels, if he hadn’t promised to not interfere with their friendship he would have made sure that Britney had absolutely no contact with his boyfriend.

He grinned to himself, his boyfriend. JC was his, he felt almost giddy with it.

“I can’t believe that you’re letting him be friends with her, you know that’s a bad idea right?”

“I’d like you to try telling him that,” Justin kicked Chris’ feet of the coffee table and sat next to him. “Britney’ll screw him over soon enough.”

He was almost positive in that regard. It was the only reason he’d made the promise to not interfere, besides the fact that JC had been looking at him with a look that pretty much guaranteed that if he fought this that there would be no dating, no sex, no nothing… regardless of how much they wanted it.

He hadn’t remembered that JC and Britney had been plotting together for months prior until a few days later, and then the only reason that he’d remembered it was because Lance had brought it up. Now he wasn’t so sure that Britney would do something to screw up the friendship.

They might actually have to live with Britney’s presence in JC’s life and make nice with her.

“And on the sex thing, we’ll do it when we’re ready to do it,” Justin finally sighed, watching as Lance and Trace exchanged a look, Joey busied himself with his magazine and Chris avoided his eyes. “You guys aren’t still betting on us are you? Because I thought that shit was all paid out last week.”

“We’re not betting on you,” Joey said automatically.

“We wouldn’t do that, learned our lesson last time,” Chris agreed.

“You’re our friend J, we’re just worried that you and your hand are getting too comfortable together,” Trace grinned at him.

“Goddamn it,” he muttered. “How much is the pot up to?”

“It’s the only one left, so it’s a big one,” Trace glanced at Lance. “It’s up over a 100k now.”

Chris took a bite of his pizza; Justin wondered why he hadn’t taken a plate from the kitchen to catch the crumbs.

Chris smirked, patting Justin on the knee. “Don’t tell C… he got pissy as hell last time when he found out that we were betting on him.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
Britney was smirking at him as he picked at his salad. It was driving him nuts but he managed to restrain himself for five minutes before he set his fork down, and arched a brow at her.

“What?” he muttered, under the table he twisted his napkin between his fingers.

“You and Justin aren’t sleeping together yet?”

“What…?” he frowned at her before he sighed leaning back in his chair. “They’re betting on us again.”

“Oh yeah,” Britney grinned, tossing her head slightly. “Nick called last night and wanted to know what the chances that the two of you were going to consummate your… uh… relationship anytime soon, I guess the pots pretty big now. Tempers are starting to flare.”

“Okay leaving alone the whole thing about all of you being seriously disturbed and having _way_ to much time on your hands… Nick Carter called _you_ to ask about _my_ sex life?” JC asked in disbelief.

“Well I think he called you first but Justin answered.”

“Of course…” JC rubbed a hand over his face. Considered how much it would alarm the wait staff if he decided to bang his head against the table before opting against it and sighed once more. “Why does everyone care so much whether we’re sleeping together?”

“Well there’s the pot you know, it’s up to over a hundred thousand,” Britney leaned over the table, touching JC’s hand lightly. “Plus you know we’re bored so… why…”

“We’re taking things slow.”

“JC, honey, sweetie. There’s slow and then there’s you know a standstill. _You_ at this moment are at a standstill, I’m surprised Justin hasn’t thrown you down on any available surface and just ravished you.”

“Justin’s a gentleman.”

“ _Justin’s_ a _guy_ … just like you; although sometimes I think you got the sensibilities of a girl.”

“Just because _you’re_ a girl doesn’t mean that I _won’t_ hit you,” JC muttered.

“I just don’t get it… Justin wants you; you obviously want him, what’s the hold up?”

JC picked up his fork again, dragging a piece of lettuce across his plate, watching absently as he twirled it through the dressing left on his plate. “I just… every other relationship that I’ve been in has ended horribly. Like fireworks and explosions horribly. I guess I just wanted to give Justin the opportunity to change his mind without having sex involved.”

“Oh honey,” Britney squeezed his hand. “First things first, Justin, isn’t going to change his mind… and if you give Lance the okay he’ll probably kill those people for you.”

JC snorted. “I wouldn’t doubt it.”

“Justin’s not going to hurt you; he’ll probably go out of his way to protect you… you guys have been friends for a long time…”

“That’s the other thing.”

“What?” Britney eyed him curiously.

“We’ve been friends for so long, and past experience has led me to the conclusion that friends don’t make the best lovers… what if we can’t make that transition to… you know… lovers?”

Britney laughed. “Honey the sexual energy flying off the two of you could light several states; I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“I don’t know…” JC shrugged.

“Okay…” Britney released his hand, gnawing on her bottom lip as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand. “You know I think you just need to do it.”

“Just do it… isn’t that a Nike ad?”

“Who cares… you need to get past this friends don’t make good lovers thing. So just do it.”

“That’s not very romantic.”

“It can be,” Britney smirked. “Pull out some candles, some incense, I’m sure Justin’s got it stashed all over your house. Satin sheets on the bed, some soft music in the background, none of your stuff because that would be distracting, Justin would probably try to sing along. Box of condoms, lube and wa-la… you’ve got a romantic, I’m seducing you so don’t argue with me atmosphere.”

“You’ve got it all figured out don’t you?” JC asked with narrowed eyes. “What do you have to gain from this?”

“I’ve got money on tonight being the night… you come through I’ll split the money with you fifty-fifty.”

“Split the money…”

“Yeah… you can buy Justin something pretty… and expensive with someone else’s money. It’ll be like the ultimate revenge.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
JC waved at Britney as she pulled out of the restaurant parking light. Tapping his cell phone (which he had charged and remembered only because Justin had done it _for_ him and then had shoved it in his hand when he was leaving, muttering something about Britney under his breath) against the steering wheel.

He hoped someday that he might be able to leave them alone in the same room without having to worry about whether one of them would be dead when he got back.

A deep breath and he flipped it open, dialing the number from memory.

“It’s me…” he said brightly when the other end was picked up. “I need to ask you for a favor.”

  


******************************************************************************

  
When Justin arrived at JC’s the house was dark, which in itself was slightly suspicious since JC _himself_ had called and told Justin when to be there, what to where and where to park.

It was very unlike JC and Justin wondered at the likelihood of pod people.

He punched in the code for the alarm because at least that hadn’t changed… JC always set it whether he was in or out. He felt safer that way.

The door swung open and he stopped abruptly.

Because _this_ wasn’t safe.

And was totally not like JC.

Candles, burning everywhere. He’d left candles there in the past, not this many though and he just knew that there were like fifty stores that were totally sold out of every candle known to man.

Justin grinned.

“Hey,” JC’s voice was soft and Justin squinted just barely seeing him sitting at the top of the stores. He was still fully clothed but the expression on his face indicated that he didn’t expect to stay that way for long.

“You didn’t need to do all this,” Justin waved his arm to encompass the candles that illuminated the room. He pushed the door closed, making sure he heard it latch before he carefully began making his way towards his boyfriend, _his boyfriend_. From the setup he might be able to call him his _lover_ within a few hours. Inside he was doing cartwheels and flips.

He carefully weaved through the river of candles, it wouldn’t do to tip any of the candles over and have the house go up in flames and ruin all of JC’s carefully constructed plans. They’d have to remember to make sure they blew them out before they got to distracted.

He sat on the top step next to him, so close that he could feel the heat of his body even between their clothes. He laced their fingers together and raised their joined hands to his lips. A whisper of kiss and JC smiled at him.

If there was anything that Justin thought JC deserved it was gentleness and romance.

Part of him had wanted to be the one to set the stage for taking their relationship to the next level, he’d had some grand plans… part of him was glad that JC had taken those plans out of his hands.

“It’s been two weeks,” JC said quietly, letting go of Justin’s hand he raised it to touch his cheek. Justin didn’t think he’d ever see in himself what JC saw in him. JC looked at him like he was precious and wonderful and he always wanted to be those things to him. “And it’s been brought to my attention,” he winced slightly, “that I’m over thinking this… the whole…”

“The sex thing,” Justin grinned. JC could write song lyrics about every type of sex imaginable, but when he had to actually _talk_ about it instead of singing about it… well he couldn’t string three coherent words together.

Justin knew for a fact that JC had a dirty mind; he couldn’t wait to exploit that knowledge. He wouldn’t even make JC talk about it beforehand.

Of course they had to actually _get_ to the sex first.

“I’d wait a lot longer than two weeks for you to be ready,” Justin admitted. “I’ve waited a long time as it is.”

“So have I,” JC said, Justin leaned closer. Lips a hairsbreadth away, he could feel the movement when JC licked his lips.

“I’ve loved you for a long time C,” he murmured. “Nothing that happens is going to change that, ever.”

“I love you to,” JC said breathlessly.

“Then take me to bed…” Justin grinned, a slow press of his lips, swipe of his tongue. He didn’t think he’d ever get over the rush of being able to kiss JC, touch him, and be kissed and touched in return.

He climbed to his feet, pulling JC with him. Arms around his waist, Justin’s fingers made a quick walk down his spine, then detoured so they could pull the t-shirt up enough that he could touch JC’s skin.

He loved touching JC’s skin. Loved being _able_ to touch that skin.

He kissed him again, holding him tightly. Every nerve in his body strumming with barely contained energy… it was finally going to happen. But first…

JC leaned his forehead against his, smiling softly. “Should we blow out the candles first? I kind of like my house standing.”

  


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It was _way_ to early to up JC decided. He’d moved from the bed because the bare expanse of Justin’s skin against black sheets… well he wasn’t a saint and if he’d waited another five minutes he would have gone against his better judgment and woken him up.

Justin needed his sleep, but when he woke up on his own he was fair game.

He leaned against the window sill watching the pinkening sky. He thought it might be the first time in years that he’d actually seen the sun rise.

Part of him wanted to paint it, then paint a little Justin lying naked within the middle of it.

A sigh from Justin caught his attention and he turned back to the bed, his nose wrinkled because Justin was still asleep. Pushing away from the window he took one last look at the rising sun and walked silently towards the bed.

Sliding between the sheets he had just settled on his side when Justin reached for him, pulling him against sleep warm skin.

Cuddling close enough that he could feel Justin hard against him. He stroked a hand down the side of Justin’s face, before resting it on his hip.

Britney would share the pot with him… he hadn’t decided what he’d buy Justin with the money yet.

Not a car because he had enough, not shoes because he’d have to convert a room to store what he had now… maybe a vacation once they were done in the studio.

JC smiled, he kissed Justin slowly, lips moving lazily together the other man never woke. Just kissed him back, smiling when JC drew away to stare at him. He closed his eyes; maybe a little cat nap until Justin was ready to wake?

A few short months ago he never thought he’d be here, never thought _they’d_ be here, laying together in his bed. He thought he’d ruined everything. But maybe things that were meant to be happened regardless of how much people poked and prodded to force them along.

Maybe if he and Britney had just left it all alone in the first place that he and Justin would have eventually found their way to this moment regardless.

And maybe not.

Whatever would have been was, and it seemed at least to JC… with a little time, some effort and the tiniest bit of plotting amongst friends… every good plan yielded some amazing results.

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End file.
